What anime.. [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

FdL

2007-06-11, 01:30 PM

Huh? Is there anime in YouTube? Didn't they remove that?

Anyway, good thread. Let's listen to recommendations.
Lately I've turned into a regular otaku. I'm enjoying Haruhi Suzumiya a lot, it sure is something to recommend to anybody. Unless you're into more action oriented or shallow stuff (Naruto it ain't). This has it all, the art, the plot, the dialogs, the characters...A sure winner.

Then it depends on your tastes and on what you've already watched. I'm going to watch Love Hina and also Kashimashi - Girl Meets Girl (I realize it might not be everyone's cup of tea, I tend to like unusual stuff). I saw He Is My Master and it cracks me up, that series is sooooo funny, brilliant (but it's pretty sexual so it's not for everybody and not everybody will find it funny).

I have to finish watching FLCL, which is great. And recently saw Video Girl Ai, another classic, but I'm not sure if I liked it a lot, I just liked it and enjoyed it. Noir is great too.

Then the latest series I want to watch are Kiddy Grade, School Rumble and Ikkitousen. This last one looks especially nice for what I've seen.

I like anything with some humour and sexyness in it, I don't care that much for dramatic action emo sagas or big metal robots...:s Unless it's really good, I think I can actually enjoy every anime out there.

I know how difficult it is to choose an anime to watch. There are millions of them, and besides the true classics, everyone has its own opinion to what it's good (I mean, it might be bad but you can enjoy it). I use AniDB (http://anidb.info) as a reference index, and there's also this page (http://www.anime-planet.com/anirec/index.php) with a recommendations engine.

Lemur

2007-06-11, 03:46 PM

I'm not sure about youtube, I usually get my fix from fansub torrents. Also, I like violence, and perhaps as I've heard it called, "burning spirit", so a lot of my suggestions may be weighted in that direction. I tend to be a bit wordy, and my descriptions probably don't do the shows justice in the first place, so you might just want to read the bold stuff. I won't hold it against you.

In any case, I'll second the call for Haruhi Suzumiya. Good stuff. Also School Rumble.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is turning out to be an interesting series. It's in a similar vein as FLCL (done by the same company, Gainax) except that it actually looks like it's not gonna stop after 6 episodes (already up to 11 so far, I think).

Wait, I just thought of a good anime that's on youtube. Ignore my previous comment, 'cause I'm not gonna bother rewriting it. Panda Z: the Robonimation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99fKtD84K58) is a fun anime about a robot panda that pilots a giant robot panda, and rock & roll. I don't see how anyone could say no to a title and concept like that, and the second episode is about eating batteries! Pure win. I think this guy (http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=SyaoranX) has all of the episodes.

The anime for Black Cat is pretty different from the manga, but the animation is still good. Black Cat, an assassin who works for a global peacekeeping organizations decides he wants to stop killing people for the sake of world peace, and live a carefree style of life. Unfortunately, his best friend is killed by his violent psycho stalker who desperately wants to make shounen-ai with Black Cat. There's also a guy who's right eye can see the future, and a little girl with the ability to transform her arms and hair into knives. Good times for all.

Darker than Black is a current anime, and Speed Grapher is maybe a few years old. Both are sci-fi type anime that have people with unlikely powers trying to kill other people with unlikely powers. Elfen Leid is about girls with horns who can rip people to shreds with their minds, or something like that. Good shows if you like sci-fi, but don't watch them with your kid. Or if you're a kid, don't watch them with your parents in the room :smallamused:

Gankutsuo is a retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo. Only this time around, the Count is a dark elf from outer space, and he has a mecha robot.

Claymore is another current anime about blonde women with two handed swords who go around killing carnivorous dopplegangers. Good if you like fantasy type stuff.

Berserk and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure are both older anime that you've probably heard of. Also, both of them only show a small part of the manga they're based on. Berserk is pretty much a must-see, or rather, must-read (get the manga) for anyone out there who isn't familiar with it yet. Jojo is fun for the internet references (http://qwerqwer1234.hp.infoseek.co.jp/mudah/mudah.swf) tied to it. Watch the OVAs if you want to understand the significance of "Za Warudo".

Hayate no Gotokou actually isn't about violence, despite its title (translation: Hayate the Combat Butler). It's a parody anime, so it's funnier depending on how much anime you watch.

Hmm, everything I've suggested so far has been either weird, violent, or both. If maybe that sort of thing doesn't suit you, I can suggest some, I suppose you would say, more shoujo type anime.

Nodame Cantabile is about a guy attending a music college, and the crazy pianist girl he has to put up with. Lovely Complex is a decent high school r- romantic comedy. There, I said it, happy? I don't usually spring for that kind of stuff, but it definitely has a certain charm to it. The characters strike me as being much more human than most anime, which is good in this case.

Ouran High School Host Club is another shoujo type about a girl who has to pretend to be a guy to pay off a debt to a bunch of crazy rich guys.

Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge is about four bishounen who are assigned the task of turning a horror-obsessed recluse girl into a perfect lady. The show is worth it because of the direction it takes, since the guys start to accept her how she is instead of drastically changing her.

The Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas is a fun anime with an overly formal talking statue with eye lasers, a hyper, violent little girl, and a colorful cast of characters who come around to harrass Gargoyle, our eye-lasered dog statue friend. I'd put this one in the category of "fun for the whole family," a term I might not be able to use on some earlier suggestions.

lacesmcawesome

2007-06-11, 03:49 PM

I recommend:

Outlaw Star.

I love that series to death. it's kinda short, and I don't think you can find it on youtube (but check crunchyroll.com for it). It's only 26 episodes, about:

SPACE
PIRATES
and
MAGIC

There is really no better combination.

Full Metal Alchemist is always good too.

Gavin Sage

2007-06-11, 04:28 PM

Watching anime on youtube endangers fansubbing as a whole. If its that easy it upsets the balance there is between legal and less then legal sources of anime. Either go torrent or buy the DVDs.

Though for some recomendations. Hmm, if you've never seen Slayers then I highly recomend it, comedy and fantasy for the win. Another classic that is my perennial all time favorite is The Vision of Escaflowne, mecha and fantasy. Some more recent goodies would include RahXephon, (Eva with a bigger budget) Wolf's Rain, and Full Metal Panic!. Then of course there are classics which never get old like Trigun, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and so on which are always good for another go.

PlatinumJester

2007-06-11, 04:31 PM

Go on www.tv-links.co.uk

WATCH - GTO, SAMURAI CHAMPLOO AND AFRO SAMURAI.

Matthew

2007-06-11, 04:33 PM

Afro Samurai was okay (a bit nonesensical), but RahXephon I can totally recommend. Full Metal Alchemist I have heard very good things about.

jkdjr25

2007-06-11, 04:36 PM

Lets see.
Well Rurouni Kenshin is always good. Ronin Warriors, Gundam Wing (one of my favorites), season one of Big O, Record of Lodoss War (both OAV and TV series) is an absolute must see for any D&D fan. Slayers is great as is Ranma 1/2, Hellsing, Outlaw Star, Patlabor, Lupin 3rd, of course Cowboy Bebop, uhm Darkside Blues is kinda strange but still good.

Attilargh

2007-06-12, 07:17 AM

Hellsing Ultimate. In case you don't know, it's about a vampire employed by a British organization that hunts other monsters of the night. It's got Nazis, and Alucard always makes me grin maniacally. :biggrin: A lot more action than in the original series, follows the original manga better, and looks pretty damn good.

Samurai Champloo. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, the creator of Cowboy Bebop, the series follow the adventures of two antagonistic swordsmen who have promised to help a girl find "the samurai who smells of sunflowers". Action, humour and sheer cool in one very nice package. Contains hip-hop and modern-day Japan references.

Cowboy Bebop. Bounty-hunters in space, with influences of cowboy movies, film noir and Hong Kong action. Very jazzy soundtrack. It's great, go watch it.

Fullmetal Alchemist. It's two words, dagnabit! Even though the protagonists are only 15 and 14, the series is not for kids. Lots of action, humour and interesting characters. This alchemy is not for fume-addled old men with chemistry kits, it's flashy and powerful and really shakes the western-ish setting. It's awesome, go watch, double-time!

What can I say, I just love watching action.

Dispozition

2007-06-12, 09:39 AM

God knows if you'll find any of these on youtube (doubtful), but if you want I can send you the bittorrents...For most of them anyway...I actually own some *gasp*

FLCL: Funny, obscure and more than a little 'out there'. Just a good, light hearted watch.
Haibane Renmei: A very 'cute' anime, although it does get rather serious about half way through. One of the few animes I deemed good enough to buy the box set.
Cowboy Bebop: Serious, funny, guns! A great watch, almost essential really. The only other anime good enough to make my buy the box set.
Mahou Sensei Negima/Negima!?: Extremely funny, but it does manage to be serious at times. Ending of Mahou Sensei Negima is shocking and only 16 episodes of Neima!? have been released, but they're sensational. Almost tempted to buy them :P

Ummm...That's actually about it for me...Darn...I should have more >.<

Tengu

2007-06-12, 10:33 AM

Hmm, tough call - most of my favorite anime series have been mentioned before (including my personal top 3: Evangelion, FMA and Trigun).
The anime I'm currently watching is Ergo Proxy - a dark cyberpunk, which reminds me of Blade Runner a bit. I've seen only several episodes so far, but it looks good - it's very plot-heavy, with little action and practically no humour (which is actually a small drawback, GiTS for example has shown that even a serious, dark anime can be funny at times).

PlatinumJester

2007-06-12, 11:43 AM

Afro Samurai was okay (a bit nonesensical), but RahXephon I can totally recommend. Full Metal Alchemist I have heard very good things about.

Yes, because all animes are completely realistic. Seriously though Afro Samurai is kick arse and can be watched in less then a day as can Samurai Champloo (if you start at about 9.00am).

FdL

2007-06-12, 02:22 PM

Seriously though Afro Samurai is kick arse and can be watched in less then a day as can Samurai Champloo (if you start at about 9.00am).

Is this a good point for an anime? :p

Gavin Sage

2007-06-12, 02:34 PM

Samurai Champloo is a standard 26 episode length anime series, so by "watch it in a day" its devoting some nine hours or so to it.

FdL

2007-06-12, 02:51 PM

Samurai Champloo is a standard 26 episode length anime series, so by "watch it in a day" its devoting some nine hours or so to it.

Sure, I personally don't see the point in watching 9 straight hours of anime in a day, especially an entire show that's worth watching with attention...But whatever...

Matthew

2007-06-12, 03:09 PM

Yes, because all animes are completely realistic. Seriously though Afro Samurai is kick arse and can be watched in less then a day as can Samurai Champloo (if you start at about 9.00am).
Wha? Who said anything about lack of realism being a problem? I watched it, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't particularly good. It was so, so and a bit nonesensical (i.e. stupid). The animation quality was very high, but the story quality and dialogue was very average.

Querzis

2007-06-12, 03:11 PM

Depend on what you want really. But whatever what happens dont watch the english version of an anime, its just really lame especially the english version of Naruto...he never even said «Believe it» in the japanese version! Anyway, if you want humour then I recommend Ranma, I find it really hilarious and sexy too but I gotta admit its one of those series that go downhill, the two last seasons are just dumb. Mabuaroha is also really cool. It manage to be really funny, sexy and sad at the same time!

If you want action then there is lots of choice but I recommend One piece, Bleach or Naruto. Those three got the best fights I ever saw. In Naruto, the characters are also really cool, they are so different that you are bound to have many favorites characters and some that you really hate (most of the time, thats Sasuke...there is not lots of people who like emo like him). But whatever what you do: Stay away from the fillers! I gotta say that One piece is the opposite of Ranma, the series keep getting better and better...but that also means that the old episode are kinda lame and have almost no action (it started more as a comedy then anything else) but its worth watching them just to understand the new episode. Bleach got great swordfight but once again: Stay away from the fillers!

Now if you are a fan of science-fiction then Trigun, Full Metal Alchemist and Gundam wings are must! I prefer Trigun, especially since I like Vash a lot, hes the greatest good guy ever. You can watch that series 4 or 5 times and it never gets old. Full Metal Alchemist is great because you never know which side you want to win. Pretty much everyone is evil, or as done evil, and you never know who is right and who is wrong until the very end. And gundam wings got giant robot and who doesnt like giant robot?

If you like horror movies, watch Hellsing...NOW! Enough said.

If you like an anime (or a webcomic :smallwink: ) because of the great characters then Inuyasha or Naruto (yes him again). They are both full of antihero, good guys, people you love to hate and well-developped characters. But the big problem I got with Inuyasha is that everyone seems invincible, cant they stay dead????

If you like romance with a bit of hentai, well, FDL already mentionned some of the best.

Cowboy Beebop and Record of lodoss war are also great.

Eldpollard

2007-06-12, 03:47 PM

As has already been said, Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop are a must. Fantastically written, acted etc.

Ouran High School Host Club is also a must. It's a shoujo comedy. Basically it involves several males who are in a club to flirt with women. the premise sounds fairly absurd I will admit, but the character development and sheer comedy. I was laughing very loudly many times.

Bleach and Naruto have already been said. Whilst they are heavily action based the characters are still very likeable.

Sornas

2007-06-12, 04:12 PM

Lets see, my personal picks would be:

Gensomaden Saiyuki: An anime adaption of the old story "Journey to the West." Funny, good action, very good drama. Stay away if you don't like anime that involves characters actually occasionally dealing with their pasts.

.HACK//SIGN or .HACK//Legend of the Twilight: Good if you like .HACK to begin with, but some people think it's a little too slow. SIGN is Drama/mystery/little bit of action, while Legend of the Twilight is similar, but less drama and more comedy. (I haven't seen both all the way through though, so if that suddenly changes in either, don't hold it against me.)

I second Ouran High School: Very[B] funny. Only watch it if you like shoujo though, this isn't an anime with tons of explosions.

[B]Fruits Basket: Rivals Saiyuki as my favorite Anime. A shoujo drama/comedy/Underlying Romance about a girl living with a family that are cursed to turn into the animals of the Chinese zodiac when they are embraced by a member of the opposite sex and how she helps them and everyone else around her deal with their own personal scars. Stay away if you don't like sweet (In the awww sense) anime, or anime with powerful emotions.

Ranma 1/2: The classic Action/Comedy. There is a reason this anime has been so popular for so long. Rumiko Takahashi doesn't get any better than this if you ask me. (No, I'm not huge on Inuyasha, it's ok, but not great in my opinion.) Stay away if you like hardcore, deadly, gory action. Or if you have young kiddies around, as there is lots of toplessness.

Anything by Hayao Miyazaki: Enough said.

More to look at but I'm too lazy to write things about:
Cowboy Bebop (Action/drama/bit of comedy)
Gundam Wing (Action/Drama)
Samurai Champloo (Action)
Naruto (Action/Bit of Drama)
Haibane Renmei (Drama)
Love Hina (Comedy/romance)
Full Metal Alchemist (Little bit of everything)
Gokusen (Action/Drama/Comedy)
Noir (Action/Drama)

Artemician

2007-06-12, 04:24 PM

There's nothing more irriating than having your message being eaten by your browser. Bah.

Okay.. I guess i'll have to be brief. I originally wrote an enormous message, but it was eaten, and I don't feel like having to type it all over again *grumble*

Fate/Stay Night. It is fabulous. That is all. Nothing i can type can convey the absolute fabulousity of F/SN. Well.. maybe the main character is a bit annoying, but that's just because he's juxtaposed to some of the coolest characters i have ever seen.

Ouran High School Host Club Absolutely amazing, and ridiculously funny, with lots of rewatchability value. Contrary to what others have said, don't watch it if you like Shoujo Anime, because it will forever ruin them for you. Trust me. I can't watch Marimite without laughing out loud now, because I will inevitably recall some similiar humourous situation from Ouran.

Full Metal Alchemist Ignore the slow start and the horrible neck pains you will develop and watch it to the end. The best action sequences I have ever seen, great characters, great plot. This is also one of the few animes that I would recommend you watch in English, for the English dub is very well done.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Very funny, very good characters, lots of philosophizing of the meaning of life. Watch!

Kino's Journey Like SHnY, but without the humour and the characters. The result is like the Little Prince meets Gulliver's Travels meets Schindler's List. I don't really like it, but if you're into stuff that make you think, you might like it.

Kanon It's like a dream, pretty and fleeting. That's all I can say without spoiling it. Seriously, it's very into mystery and suspense, so spoilers are absolutely horrible.

Lucky Star is frankly, quite horrible. But it's good for destressing on Sundays. However, I find it amusing because I am very similiar to the main characters, so you might not. Steer clear of this if you want something with plot/meaning.

0wca

2007-06-12, 05:39 PM

Anything Hayao Miyazaki!

Especially Mononoke-hime and Spirited Away!!:smalltongue: :smalltongue:

Oh, or BLEACH!! :smalltongue: :smalltongue:

Dispozition

2007-06-12, 06:19 PM

Goddamn...Need multiquote!

Depend on what you want really. But whatever what happens dont watch the english version of an anime, its just really lame especially the english version of Naruto...he never even said «Believe it» in the japanese version!

Does...Dattebayo sound familiar? That's essentially what it is. Although the english meaning does vary, it generally represents believe it.

If you want action then there is lots of choice but I recommend One piece, Bleach or Naruto. Those three got the best fights I ever saw. In Naruto, the characters are also really cool, they are so different that you are bound to have many favorites characters and some that you really hate (most of the time, thats Sasuke...there is not lots of people who like emo like him). But whatever what you do: Stay away from the fillers! I gotta say that One piece is the opposite of Ranma, the series keep getting better and better...but that also means that the old episode are kinda lame but its worth watching them for the new episode. Bleach got great swordfight but once again: Stay away from the fillers!

Naruto, some good fight scenes, never seen bleach, One Piece...Are you kidding? From the 20 or so episodes I've seen, not a single good fight in them. Albiet my opiion might change after I read the (stupidly long) manga, but still...[/QUOTE]

Lets see, my personal picks would be:
Anything by Hayao Miyazaki: Enough said.

Couldn't be truer :P

Naruto (Action/Bit of Drama)
Haibane Renmei (Drama)

Naruto is also a comedy as such...And Haibane Renmei..Drama...I dunno...My local video store classifies it as horror, which I suppose for some bits could almost be true. But it's not a mainstream drama, that's for sure.

Fate/Stay Night. It is fabulous. That is all. Nothing i can type can convey the absolute fabulousity of F/SN. Well.. maybe the main character is a bit annoying, but that's just because he's juxtaposed to some of the coolest characters i have ever seen.

I've seen the first...6 or so episodes...It's not too bad, but it's certainly not the best things I've ever seen. The plot has a great idea, it's just not carried out all that well. But I'll wait until I've seen teh whole series to decide whether or not it's actually worth seeing...

Raistlin1040

2007-06-12, 06:26 PM

Bleach. Naruto. YuYu Hakusho's good, if you can find it.

Querzis

2007-06-12, 08:22 PM

Does...Dattebayo sound familiar? That's essentially what it is. Although the english meaning does vary, it generally represents believe it.

Uh sorry but no, it has no real meaning. Thats why the people who add subtitle to japanese version dont write anything when he say it.

http://forums.narutofan.com/showthread.php?t=126391

Read Kaito article. Thats what it means: nothing. It SOUNDS cool, agressive, strong-willed, childish and even a bit rude but still doesnt mean anything. Its like Fred Flinstone «Yabadabadou», it sounds happy and funny...thats it. It doesnt mean anything. And what annoy me the most is that Naruto is far from the only character who say something at the end of his sentence, most of the characters in ALL anime do that since its just how the japanese talk, with a «Yabadabadou» kind of word that doesnt mean anything but usually match their personnality. So why «Believe it»? Most of the time, when he say it in the english version, it doesnt make any sense that he would say it at that moment. Naruto (the character) is just really annoying in the english version because of that and because of the crappy voice actor he got.

FdL

2007-06-12, 08:23 PM

If you like romance with a bit of hentai, well, FDL already mentionned some of the best.

Yeah, that's my niche then :p
Actually I'd use the term ecchi instead of hentai. I've been researching hentai and was surprised to find good quality (ie, non-crap) things that are good on its own besides their portrayal of sex. Good animation and stories, and there's funny stuff too. But I'm guessing I couldn't talk about them here so forget I said it.

I'm going to check out that Fate/Stay Night...It's always good to have a thread like this one around.

On the "dattebayo" thing, it cannot mean "believe it" in every context that he uses it. Look at how he uses it in every mood and situation. It's more like a particle that in itself has no meaning but attaches meaning to the preceding sentence. It's like "desu".
It just doesn't translate like that, and that's the problem, as it's a formal feature of japanese language.

Dispozition

2007-06-12, 08:34 PM

Well...My bad then :P

@FDL: Mahou Sensei Negima is like that...It's ecchi, but damn funny. And by ecchi, I mean the english translation, not the literal japanese one. Japanese ecchi = Western Hentai, Western Ecchi = Lewd/naughty kinda think.

I'm probably wrong, that's just my understanding of it. I don't speak Japanese, so....yeah... >.<

FdL

2007-06-12, 09:05 PM

I dunno, I got more confused with your take :p
I simply draw the line regarding if it shows explicit sex. Which in itself is a classification that doesn't really say anything about the actual anime, as there's some stories that for example are romantic and have it small doses and as a natural progression of the story. Something like Pia Carrot 2.

Which is an interesting thing to say, because I watched Pia Carrot 2 DX first and that's a straight romantic comedy for all audiences (well, it's anime so I dunno :p). Then I found out that the Pia Carrot 2 series is an alternate story with roughly the exact same characters, but featuring explicitness (my grade of PC-ness with the vocabulary has me on the verge of puking).

(Needless to say it feels kinda weird to watch them both in that order :D) Of course, this is related to the fact that they're based on one of those eroge interactive games with multiple paths.

My point probably exceeds that of the current thread, but I found it interesting that what is shown about a relationship in a romantic comedy is deeply related to storytelling conventions and cliches than to actual limits/censorship issues (themselves a factor external to storytelling). But at the same time, those storytelling conventions have evolved from the story of the genre (Hollywood in the 50's and so on) (Example: In Pia Carrot 2 DX they even fade to white on a kiss before it takes place fully.)

Conversely, what they are willing to show actually conditions the storytelling too much. The other "2" series is the example for this.

Well, it's very interesting if you think this from an open minded perspective and not with torches in hand which considers every portrayal of sex as negative.

Quirinus_Obsidian

2007-06-12, 09:21 PM

I strongly recommend:

Fullmetal Alchemist
Bleach
the Slayers (and send me some links if you can get them in order!)
Naruto
DNA2 (2 = squared)
Escaflowne
This Ugly Yet Beautiful World
Eureka SeveN (I watched this entire series in one sitting, seriously 50 episodes straight. Allsdat I did was get up to use the facilities and get food).
EDIT: I also strongly recommend GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka. Old-school hand drawn anime... totally fantastic. I did not like the way the anime ended.. was too sudden :smallfrown:

I do not recommend Ikkitousen; just overall bad; unless you are looking for nothing but panty shots and cleavage. The story and background is interesting, if you can get past the constant fanservice. Some is good. That is not.

FdL

2007-06-12, 09:34 PM

Yeah, DNA2 is quite good :) I've laughed my ass off to this one. It's from the same guy who made Video Girl Ai and I''s, IIRC, so he knows his stuff.
The anime loses it in the last part, and the ending is rushed (I think in the manga it's better developed but I haven't read it all yet).

TheEmerged

2007-06-12, 10:32 PM

FdL

2007-06-12, 10:47 PM

Really? I didn't realize that...Maybe it's not what I would call fanservice. Asides from some outright funny scenes with Mikururu, which are mostly for fun and so are incidentally fanserviceable (ie, Aika it ain't).
I guess true fanservice is its own end.

Surely the amount of fanservice each person likes/tolerates can vary.

Behold_the_Void

2007-06-12, 11:11 PM

Haruhi Suzumiya isn't really fanservice so much as it's a parody of the concept.

Great series though. I recommend Genshiken, since nobody's said it yet. That one's really well done and hilarious. It's fairly slice-of-life, about a Japanese college anime club.

I watched Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad's first episode a few days ago and really like it, I intend to check it out more thoroughly. Crisp, realistic animation and an interesting concept. It's by Kodansha, which also did Genshiken, and the realistic nature is much the same as with Genshiken.

If you like horror and extremely creepy psychological stuff (which I'm not into and thus won't watch this series, but all my friends love it) watch Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (the official release will be titled "When they Cry", which is a shortening of the actual title which means "When the Cicadas Cry"). It's been best described as psycho lolis brutally murdering each other, by which I mean really cute kids going completely insane and murdering each other in various brutal ways before time resets and things happen again because someone's doing evil stuff and you don't know why.

F.H. Zebedee

2007-06-12, 11:13 PM

Nobody mentioned Scrapped Princess yet? AWESOME, AWESOME show. What Slayers wished it could be. Humor's just as good, and the plot, animation, and action are incredibly better. Check it out. Rare anime, but every single person I've shown it to has loved it.

Poison_Fish

2007-06-12, 11:47 PM

I support Higurashi.

For Fate Stay Night, I've found that the series was so-so, just like Type Moon's other TV series, Tsukihime. But I am a type moon fan boy, so what I would say is I like the plots of their games much greater then the TV series they've released. However, those are 18+ games(It's Japan, yeah). As well, they are not released in the US. There is an english patch out there, but you must get the games yourself.

Lemur

2007-06-13, 12:40 AM

Ah, I'm being reminded of series I need to finish seeing now. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of Genshiken and Scrapped Princess, but they looked good.

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni is pretty good, and I kinda wish I could play the game (more like an interactive story from what I've heard) it's based on. Another freaky type anime worth seeing is Paranoia Agent.

EvilElitest

2007-06-13, 10:59 AM

I'll do it in advertisment form. I normally hate anime, so i only watch hte good stuff, so if i say it is good, i must be good:smallbiggrin:

Number 1, Full Metal Alchemist

"Are you bored, are you tired. You've watched all the animes you can find and are still bothered by annoying Narato rip off main characters (Not that Naratuo was good to begine with) unrealistic worlds, unbeliavible fight scenes (Sword's vs. guns?), black and white morality, and basic story line? Look no farther, FMA can offer you
Note, the anime and the Manga, while they have same characters and to an extend same event, are dramtically different.
1. Plot summery. It takes place in an alteranate world (Same geogrophy as Earth, in the anime at least) with WWI technology. The story takes place in what is in our country is known as Germany, where a country (In the anime it is only called the state, the Manga plot is amazing but different) that is centreled in germany (with hte orginal captical name of central) has taken over most of Europe, the middle east, Eastern Europe and North Africa and is ruled by a Furher. The main character has lost his right arm and left leg (Replaced with mechanical limbs) and his brother's soul has been bound to a suit of armor (Note, the brother is an awful character in the anime, major bad point, but great in the manga) when the attempted to bring their mother back to life, and now are fighting against the seven deadly sins (Envy, Pride, Sloth, Greed ect) to control of the country, while trying to create the Philospher's stone. With genocide throw in
2. Really awsome magic system. Basiclly Alchemy is a science, to obtain something you must lose something of equal value. Example, Ed could use Alchemy to his metal right arm into a blade, but couldn't use it to change it into a block of wood.

3. A wonderful main character. Unlike many main characters in anime or manga (from Narato, Hunter X Hunter, Shaman King, ect) the main character is not a naive, confused, arrogent, inmature, easily confused, badly written, honest to a fault, dumb as hell (But are somehow able to be amazing fighters and always have morals that agree with hte writer), rash, and generally Gary Sues? With Angst thrown in, Edward Elric, is quite the opposet. An arrogent, witty, insulting, elitest, vertically challenged genius, Ed is a good character who not only has his own options and personality, he is also a far better character all around, with geneeral character flaws and still quite kick ass. He has demostrated an abilty to understand the plot and not have to listen to hte generic female character give him ideas. He also has the best quote
(When facing insane evil villian who harmed his brother)
"Damnit, their are so many moron's who's ass' i have to kick. I'm going to have to keep a freakying list just to keep track of them all"
Also, he is one of the few main characters who I don't want to get killed
4. Really scary villans. (warning spoilers)
4a. Envy, a socaipathic shapeshifer with a joy for breaking limbs and causing war. Also
MAJOR SPOILER

Kills the quite a few major characters]

4b. Gluttony, A child who wants to each every thing and every one
4c. Greed, best villian ever, too awsome to even talk about him except for his best quote
"They don't call me Greed for nothing. I want everything, i want money, i want women, power, fame,. I want everything this world has to offer and immortailty is on the top of the list
4d. Pride, true idenity is to major of a spoiler to reveal , but he is awsome i'll give you that
4e. Sloth, a coward who has forsaken its duty to its family in exchange for power
4f. The Big Bad, i can't really say more except great final villian speech
4g. Barry the choper, a serial killer who kills for the sole reason "Because i Can"
4H. Frank Archer, the greatest corrupt miltary man ever
4I. Zolf Kimblee, beleaves that all souls, including his own are meanenless and so has no moral problems with blowing them up
4J. General Basque Grande is just cool
I might have missed a few
more later
from,
EE

Eldpollard

2007-06-13, 11:27 AM

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Fruits Basket. It's amazingly funny. However the anime ends without the story finishing. You need to read the manga for the full story.

Artemician

2007-06-13, 02:29 PM

Heh... I just realized that in my reply yesterday I left out a few animes that were originally talked about in my earlier (eaten) reply.

So here they are:

Shakugan no Shana is well... fairly so-so. The first 8 episodes were absolutely fabulous. Then I watched the 9th episode and went "wtf?!". From a horror anime, it went into a.. school comedy. I was in tears. However, i stuck through and found it a decent anime overall, as the school comedy aspect, while still present, was toned down in the later episodes. However, I feel that the director messed up horribly with the explanation of the extremely interesting world setting, as even with 2 episodes of pure explanation, he failed to explain every single event when the flashback occurred, with the result that the flashback asked more questions than it gave answers. Final verdict, Shana isn't a work of literature, but it's passable for an evening watch.

Full Metal Panic! The good, but not that great first season went into an absolutely fabulous second season. I especially like how mecha combat is portrayed in the setting, with actually realistic mecha combat, and extremely solid action sequences. However, Gonzo Digimation (IMO) overly stylized the combat in the first season, with the results a bit jarring, as combat is portrayed in an extremely gritty fashion, and where people die in one bullet, as they would in real life. Thus, having the standard shounen anime fare of breaking lightspeed and enemies delivering long monologues... is very strange, to say the least. The second season however, is a lot better.

Regarding Fate/Stay Night, I must repeat that the plot picks up after the 10th episode. It also gets a lot grittier. And the characters are so cool... What Archer says before he unleashes Unlimited Blade Works is one of the coolest monologues I have ever heard.
But I digress.. episode 15 in particular really impressed me. There was a large amount of character advancement, and the fight scene was extremely epic, yet brutal. However, I get the feeling that there should be an additional episode between 15 and 16, as the gulf between 15 and 16 was really large... ~ahaha. It's still a very solid anime, though.

I am of the opinion that there is a lot more plot in the Visual Novel, but I'm not 18, thus there's no way I can get access to them.

Aston

2007-06-13, 04:10 PM

I liked Fate Stay Night. Was an interesting take on things.

Must say that I have also heard good things about Death Note. The manga was really cool. *insert squee here*

Also heard good things about Hellsing Ultimate OVAs....

FdL

2007-06-13, 08:33 PM

Yeah, Death Note seems pretty good, but I think I'd rather read the manga, at least first.

MPHopcroft

2007-06-13, 10:59 PM

Anime to rent from Netflix:

Slayers is a must for D&D enthusiasts, fantasy enthusiasts, and comedy enthusiasts. There have been many fantasy-comedy animes, but Slayers stands our for its characterization and surprising depth. Anybody who tells you Slayers isn't a love story simply isn't paying attention....

Azumanga Daioh has nothing to do with traditional fantasy, but a lot to do with humor, life and all that stuff. Six girls are followed on their progress through a prestigious Japanese high school, under the tutelage of the worst possible person to have guiding young ladies into adulthood.

Black Lagoon concerns a salaryman who falls into the clutches of modern-day pirates in the South China Sea and discovers he has more in common with his captors than his employers. This extravagantly violent show has been called by many "The best action anime since Cowboy Bebop". Beware the overly-armed nuns....

HOLiC (the original title is xxxHOLiC, which the American distributors have changed for obvious reasons) is the less extravagant but, in my opinion, better of the two new shows from CLAMP manga (CLAMP is the legendary all-female manga studio responsible for such classics as Magic Knight Rayearth, Tokyo Babylon, X/1999 and Card Captor Sakura). A young man who has been cursed with the ability to see spirits finds himself in a period of humiliating indentured servitude to a mysterious and eccentric sorceress, who is also subtly guiding the rest of his life as well.

Anime to torrent:

Murder Princess is a blood-soaked quest for vengeance and a lost throne that has been getting raves.

Lucky Star is a show you'll either get or you won't. Four high school friends amble through life and try to deal with each other's eccentricities (it doesn't help that one of them is not only an extreme otaku but a bit of a cheerful pervert as well). worth the price of admission for its insights into fan culture, and for Akira-chan, the burnt-out idol who presents the epilogues.

Windy Tales is an oddly-drawn yet lyrical story about students who learn that their teacher is one of a secret village of Wind manipulators who's been teaching the neighborhood cats how to fly. It isn't all that much about magic, but is a lot about youth and coming of age. I found it to be the anime equivalent of a Beethoven quartet.

Dispozition

2007-06-14, 02:17 AM

Yeah, Death Note seems pretty good, but I think I'd rather read the manga, at least first.

The manga really starts to suck about where I am right now, chapter 60-ish. I won't say why because of insane spoilers, but yeah...It gets really sucky. I just hope that the anime is as good as the manga started out.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is an awesome anime from what I've seen of it (2 episodes) and Angelic Layer is a great anime and manga...I think that's all new for me...*wanders off to watch more Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Angelic Layer*

Poison_Fish

2007-06-14, 02:35 AM

PlatinumJester

2007-06-15, 06:51 AM

Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series.

I know it's not an anime but it is totally worth watching if you are bored.
Also GTO is great but watch it in English rather than Japanese (because it is one of the few animes better in English).

Also if you have an hour spare then watch BLOOD:The Last Vampire. Only 45 minutes long but it is very stylish.

Matthew

2007-06-15, 11:27 AM

Yeah, I though Blood: The Last Vampire was pretty good as well. I also enjoyed Kai-Doh-Maru, though it was hardly a straight forward Anime.

FdL

2007-06-15, 08:46 PM

Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series.

I know it's not an anime but it is totally worth watching if you are bored.

Erm. No.

I wasn't going to post any negative comment about recommended anime, because as a recommendation you can take it or leave it according to your taste. And we're all giving off names of things we think are good.

But here I'm willing to make an exception.
Come on, you cannot recommend "Yu Gi Oh". In any of its incarnations. And especially not just "if you're bored".

There's good anime to watch and that is the aim of this thread. So no need to watch something that a) Is not anime. b) Is not good.

tyr

2007-06-16, 02:25 AM

Seconding Kanon. It's funny, pretty and deep. Make sure to watch the 2006 version. I'd post a link to a place to torrent it, but I'm not sure we're allowed to do that. You can google it anyway.

Of course, it's midnight the following day in this timezone, so you probably got what you needed.

jaqueses

2007-06-16, 05:30 AM

Gunslinger Girl certainly caught my attention. I recommend it highly. The action sequences are not the main hook for it, but instead its the interplay between the characters as they progress.

Don't have anything else that hasn't been mentioned already, though apparently my watching list is now much bigger.

Tengu

2007-06-16, 06:01 AM

Erm. No.

I wasn't going to post any negative comment about recommended anime, because as a recommendation you can take it or leave it according to your taste. And we're all giving off names of things we think are good.

But here I'm willing to make an exception.
Come on, you cannot recommend "Yu Gi Oh". In any of its incarnations. And especially not just "if you're bored".

There's good anime to watch and that is the aim of this thread. So no need to watch something that a) Is not anime. b) Is not good.

Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged is a series of parody movies on Youtube and Dailymotion, duh. Very funny from what I've heard, but I don't watch them because I have no idea about Yu-Gi-Oh and therefore most of the jokes would probably be lost for me.

I watch Naruto Abridged though. It's hilarious.

FdL

2007-06-16, 06:56 AM

Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged is a series of parody movies on Youtube and Dailymotion, duh. Very funny from what I've heard, but I don't watch them because I have no idea about Yu-Gi-Oh and therefore most of the jokes would probably be lost for me.

Yeah, I know what it is. I have other fan-made comedy videos to recommend too, but I don't think this is the thread to do so. And even then, the source material for this one is so bad that I wouldn't watch anything related to it.
FYI, Yu Gi Oh is a low quality animated series made with the sole purpose of promoting a collectible card game. Aimed at kids of about, I dunno, 10?

Compare Yu Gi Oh to the other stuff people are recommending. 'Nuff said.

Tengu

2007-06-16, 09:14 AM

Well, if Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged is at least half as funny as Naruto Abridged, then it IS worth recommending.

Dispozition

2007-06-16, 09:16 AM

Personally, I thought naruto abridged was absolute crap. Yu-gi-oh abridged had some very, very funny moments, and is highly quoteable, but other than that, is also pretty bad...In america

Tengu

2007-06-16, 09:21 AM

Tastes differ, I'd guess. Dissing something before seeing it, though, seems completely unreasonable.

Matthew

2007-06-16, 10:28 AM

Okay, this may irreparably damage my reputation, but I'm going to fess up to having watched all of Yugi-Oh from beginning to end. I have to say I didn't hate it. It wasn't very good, but it wasn't awful either. It was a show aimed at kids and the values it promoted were very positive (even if it also promoted a game I have no interest in). I think, though, it's important to distinguish this type of Anime from the more usual fare. Yugi-Oh is like Cardcaptors and Zoids, it's a kids cartoon, same as GI-Joe, Transformers or Pokemon. Incidently, Yugi-Oh FX (or whatever it's called) absolutely sucks, and I'm no fan of the Zoids sequel either.

In short, it's not really appropriate to recommend Yugi-Oh (even the parody version) to someone on the basis that they liked Ghost in the Shell or whatever. They are totally different genres of animation.

PlatinumJester

2007-06-16, 10:36 AM

Yeah Yu Gi Oh is a bit crap an anime but the manga is incredibly good. Plus it doesn't matter if YuGiOh abridged is a not proper anime if your board then it's a great way to become entertained.

FdL

2007-06-16, 01:32 PM

In short, it's not really appropriate to recommend Yugi-Oh (even the parody version) to someone on the basis that they liked Ghost in the Shell or whatever. They are totally different genres of animation.

Well thanks there. At least somene who got my point.
I'd think similarly of stuff like Avatar and other pseudo-anime, but well...

Yeah Yu Gi Oh is a bit crap an anime but the manga is incredibly good. Plus it doesn't matter if YuGiOh abridged is a not proper anime if your board then it's a great way to become entertained.

And so are karaoke, going to the movies, theme parks, ping pong, clubbing and videogames. But that's not what we're talking about, is it? :p

Also board =/= bored.

Anyway, going back to the topic. Regarding Neon Genesis Evangelion, I'm planning to get the whole series. Any recommendation as to the source? Also, what's the stuff that they released afterwards? Which is original new material and worth getting?

Also been wanting to check out Azumanga Daioh (sp?).

Lemur

2007-06-16, 01:46 PM

FdL

2007-06-16, 01:55 PM

I don't mind saying it again. If you liked Evangelion or FLCL, or both, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is the anime to check out.

It's by the same company (Gainax), and you can see some similar themes (giant robots, young main character with confidence issues) from the earlier series. However, even though it's about piloting mecha against a mysterious foe (like Evangelion) it's more in the "holy crap did that just happen" vein of unlikely absurdity that you see from FLCL.

You know, I researched this title from your initial recommendation. It sounds interesting and I might get it. What put me off was the overabundance of robots (at least in the wikipedia page). Which brings to my mind something like Digimon :S But still the plot outline sounds interesting.

Regarding Yu-Gi-Oh, as usual, I prefer watching anime in the original Japanese. Yu-Gi-Oh was one of those shows that was sometimes better without subtitles. It's not something I would recommend to other people, but I had fun watching what was going on without actually understanding what the characters were talking about. The show was never exactly well known for it's intelligent dialogue, so go figure.

Hey, but then you're not really watching it, if you're not understanding what they're saying! Actually sounds like an excuse for not admitting it's bad :p Seriously, the art is not very good either.

Thinking of it, there should be a name for this non/pseudo anime series made to sell toys, like Beyblade and Medabots and that crap they put a lot of in CN.

Lemur

2007-06-17, 02:56 AM

Actually, Yu-Gi-Oh was a manga first, before it was an anime or card game. The anime seems to steer towards merchandising the card game, although the manga is pretty interesting. It's not a show I'd recommend; I should point out that watching anime without subtitles is more of a personal quirk of mine. I just like hearing cartoon characters yell at each other I guess.

I don't think Gurren Lagann reminds me of Digimon in any way, so no worries there. The only thing to look out for is that they'll yell the names of their attacks, if that sort of thing gets to you.

Setra

2007-06-17, 08:34 AM

I had forgotten about this thread.

Honestly, when no one replied I ended up forgetting about it, now I see like.. 30 suggestions.

Nice :smallbiggrin:

Edit: Ps. In the end, I started watching Gunslinger Girl, it wasn't really my style, so I started watching Grenadier instead. I think next I'll probably end up watching Haruhi Suzumiya, Mai Hime, or Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien (Did I spell those right?) Presuming I can even find the latter.

Lycurgus

2007-06-17, 10:10 AM

I'll try to give some ideas that others haven't. It's hard with so many though.
Witch Hunter Robin, Full Metal Panic!, Iria is short but not bad, Dominion Tank Police is entertaining. Also, I started watching Robotech way, way back and I enjoy the whole of all the series, but you have to watch them, especially the Macross saga with it in mind that it's old-school, like the original Gundam. If they re-did some of the classics with the modern animation and better voice actors that they are using now it would be great. Even the Japanese voice actors were kinda weak back then. Of course if they did that I would be even more broke than I am now...:smallamused:

Dr. Bath

2007-06-17, 11:59 AM

Two animes I have enjoyed are Last Exile and Read or Die.

FdL

2007-06-17, 02:45 PM

I recently got all of Ikkitousen and I'm ready to watch it ^^

Robotech is a classic, it's understandable that it looks terribly dated. But my respect for the legendary series really took a dive when I learned the truth about its origins, as it's compiled from three different (mostly unrelated) anime that the US distributors put together in order to comply with some minimum amount for episodes to broadcast. So you end up with Macross, then the Southern Cross Cavalry thing (which IIRC is somehow related), and then the last part is a travesty made up of a series called Genesis Climber Mospeada (which is pretty good but had nothing to do with Robotech, thus it was made to fit the storyline...and that's why it made little sense sometimes).
Anyway, that sucked because shows the TV guys back then didn't give a crap about the source material and treated the audience as stupid. Something like that wouldn't happen now, thankfully it's different with the net and all.

Witch Hunter Robin looks ok, I have it and I might watch it some day.

I got the Read or Die OVAs. Seeing that there's a tv series based on them I guess it must be a good watch.

Xilehxt

2007-06-17, 08:08 PM

Seems several people are up to date with the 2007 Spring shows, and there isn't really more for me to add, but I'm surprised no one mentioned Seto no Hayanome (translate: Bride of Seto). Hilarious I tell you.

RaistlinandPals

2007-06-17, 11:26 PM

Don't feel like taking the time to read other suggestions, but if it hasn't been posted, DEATH NOTE. Seriously one of the best anime i have ever seen. Art is amazing and the plot is enthralling. It's interesting because it shows the story from the point of the view of the villain. It will definitely bring out your evil side. :xykon:

RP

P.S. if Youtube doesn't have it Veoh might.

Xilehxt

2007-06-18, 01:31 AM

Death Note indeed is awesome, even better if you haven't read the original manga, since it keeps things fresh and there isn't something to compare the anime to.

Behold_the_Void

2007-06-18, 01:58 AM

Tengen Toppa Gurenn Lagann is actually the current craze among many of my friends. It comes highly recommended and is a series I've been meaning to watch for awhile now.

Also, I believe it was mentioned, but not by me, so I'm going to plug Hayate no Gotoku for its extreme amount of references and general hilarity.

Artemician

2007-06-18, 03:53 AM

Ahh.. I've just finished Fate/Stay Night, and I must say that the ending is absolutely fabulous. That is all I can say without spoilering anything. Buggeration.

I can, however, comment on the animation, which is simply superb. The attention to detail is amazing. This is the first time I have seen a proper blade parry in an animated show, ever. They even go as far as to show the notch on the blade that occurs when you do an edge-on-edge parry. They even used real Kendo sword forms when they animated the fight scene with Assassin. Just... incredible.

~More anime recommendations~!

I'll steer clear from classics, since you'll probably have seen them, no?

Oh wait.. now I've run out of animes that I have watched and liked. Ah what the heck.. here's my "To-get" list.

Air
Kimi ga Noizumi Eien
Rurouni Kenshin: Seissouhen (no idea how the spelling goes, but it's the prequel. Tsuikohen was fantastic, so i want to see if this is as good)
[b]Mahou Sensei Negima
Magical Lyrical Girl SomethingsomethingIcantremeberthename Nanoha
A 26 episode remake of Inuyasha, if it ever comes out. Fat hope, though

Dispozition

2007-06-18, 04:24 AM

Mahou Sensei Negima

You my friend...Can do no wrong...I would also advise Negima!?

And good to know that F/SN has a good ending...I should probably pick it back up...

Setra

2007-06-18, 04:33 AM

Air
I would recommend Air.

I consider it my favorite anime so I might be a bit biased :smalltongue:

Negima is good too though.

PlatinumJester

2007-06-18, 08:09 AM

Viewtiful Joe anime. Henshin a go go mother ****er

Setra

2007-06-18, 08:41 PM

Ahh!

In the end I started watching Kaleido Star. It's great. As it turns out my anime choice is vastly influenced by AMVs I watch.

The bad part is, I can't find episodes 21-27.

Dispozition

2007-06-18, 08:44 PM

Ahh!

In the end I started watching Kaleido Star. It's great. As it turns out my anime choice is vastly influenced by AMVs I watch.

The bad part is, I can't find episodes 21-27.

http://www.isohunt.com/torrents/?ihq=Kaleido+Star

1-51...I think it's longer than you thought...

Setra

2007-06-18, 09:11 PM

http://www.isohunt.com/torrents/?ihq=Kaleido+Star

1-51...I think it's longer than you thought...
Nah, I have episodes 28+

I just can't find those specific ones aside from torrents.

I always check to see how many episodes an anime has before watching.

Dispozition

2007-06-19, 01:03 AM

Torrents are the best way...It's how I get all my anime and manga...Well, most of it...Wait, no...All of it...

PlatinumJester

2007-06-19, 08:03 AM

www.tv-links.co.uk it's free:smallbiggrin:

Dispozition

2007-06-19, 08:09 AM

...So are bittorrents...You think I'd pay for stuff? Woah...Crazy man alert...I have a lower budget than...Well...I have a really low budget...

Artemician

2007-06-19, 01:11 PM

Now now, we don't want to spread piracy to the kiddies, do we? Remember kids, "Downloading pirated anime... is stealing."

Now now, I know that "Stealing can make everything better" but that's what us grownups say, so it must be true, yes?

/sarcasm

In fact, I WOULD buy anime from legitimate sources, but this is impossible in the little coconut island of the world where I am, because the only distributor you can find here sells VCDs that have video quality that is worse than the fansub releases. Not to mention that they cost $30 for 12 episodes. That might be considered cheap to you, but not to a teenager without a job. $30 is 2 weeks of lunch money for me.

0wca

2007-06-20, 11:51 AM

www.tv-links.co.uk it's free:smallbiggrin:

True! I've already watched like 3 seasons of bleach on it...

Or if you can't find the episode there you can try here: www.dailymotion.com (http://www.dailymotion.com)

FdL

2007-06-20, 08:35 PM

I'm watching Kiddy Grade now. It's pretty good. I'm beginning to think I don't dig space stuff that much. But it's well done and 3 episodes into it I think I'm enjoying it.

Setra

2007-06-20, 08:51 PM

www.tv-links.co.uk it's free:smallbiggrin:
However it only has the first 20 episodes of Kaleido Star.

It is a good site.

I would prefer torrents, if they didn't lag my internet horribly, and take a week to download a single episode.

FdL

2007-06-20, 09:44 PM

However it only has the first 20 episodes of Kaleido Star.

It is a good site.

I would prefer torrents, if they didn't lag my internet horribly, and take a week to download a single episode.

You're exaggerating. But well, to each its own. Conversely I wouldn't like to watch anime in youtube or similar streaming video sites, the quality is too bad for me.

Setra

2007-06-20, 10:02 PM

You're exaggerating. But well, to each its own. Conversely I wouldn't like to watch anime in youtube or similar streaming video sites, the quality is too bad for me.
Actually, for once, I am not.

Downloading a full episode, averaging 250mb per episode, at an average of 5 KB/s takes a LONG time. Specifically because I can't download often because....

My internet lags horribly, I can't play any internet games, even Yahoo Chess. It takes me a full ten seconds to load up my homepage, which is http://www.google.com and normally takes a fraction of a second.

Edit: In retrospect, maybe I have bad luck with torrenting programs. However I have tried like 5 of them, I currently use Bitlord. My brother recommended Flashget, will try it too. If all else fails I'm only using it for a few episodes.

Edit Edit: Amazing.. while it doesn't lag my internet.. it downloads at an amazing .5kb/s!

Steelwraith

2007-06-20, 10:11 PM

Actually, for once, I am not.

Downloading a full episode, averaging 250mb per episode, at an average of 5 KB/s takes a LONG time. Specifically because I can't download often because....

My internet lags horribly, I can't play any internet games, even Yahoo Chess. It takes me a full ten seconds to load up my homepage, which is http://www.google.com and normally takes a fraction of a second.

Edit: In retrospect, maybe I have bad luck with torrenting programs. However I have tried like 5 of them, I currently use Bitlord. My brother recommended Flashget, will try it too. If all else fails I'm only using it for a few episodes.

Unless you have dialup, getting 5KB/s on torrent means there's something very, very wrong... you could be firewalled, your ISP could be blocking its ports, your router could be misconfigured.

You may have better luck with Emule, its a lot slower than torrents but you can find much older files. Personally I use both when the situation calls for it.

As for new anime, Claymore is turning out to be really good. Its currently up to episode 12 fansubbed.

FdL

2007-06-20, 10:14 PM

Unless you have dialup, getting 5KB/s on torrent means there's something very, very wrong... you could be firewalled, your ISP could be blocking its ports, your router could be misconfigured.

You may have better luck with Emule, its a lot slower than torrents but you can find much older files. Personally I use both when the situation calls for it.

Exactly what I was going to suggest. With Emule I've had very good results. In fact, I didn't use it or trust it until I started looking for anime.

Of course, either way you're going to need to properly configure your setup. You cannot be getting 5KB/s and thinking it's supposed to be that way. In a week I could get a couple of full series, no kidding.

Setra

2007-06-20, 11:03 PM

Well, it's probably router problems then.

Seeing as it lags the internet of EVERYONE on my LAN. That and I can't host Warcraft 3, so meh.

Our router is kind of meh, maybe we need a new one.

I'll check out Emule though, does it use torrents too?

Edit: Alright so I have the episodes ... waiting... I'll leave it on when I go to sleep, see what happens.

seras1672

2007-07-12, 11:32 PM

Some of my personal favorites are: FLCL (an excellent anime, but it may be hard to understand at first), Bleach, Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate, Ruroni Kenshin (a very good anime about samurai), Speed Grapher, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Blood + (a continuation of Blood: The Last Vampire), Ergo Proxy ( a sci-fi anime) Ghost in the shell and Ghost in the Shell: Second Gig (it's also a sci-fi anime and includes a lot of phychological elements.), and Trinity Blood (another vampire anime, like Hellsing)

Artemician

2007-07-13, 06:12 AM

FdL

2007-07-13, 05:51 PM

Azumanga Daioh! It's so funny! It's amazing. ^^

I've watched Kiddy Grade and I'd recommend it to anyone. I've watched Ikkitousen season 1 and well, I enjoyed it, though it's not veeeery good.

AslanCross

2007-07-13, 07:02 PM

I'm currently waiting for episodes 24 and 25 of Code Geass:Lelouch of the Rebellion to come out on the 28th. Code Geass is the most impressive anime I've seen recently.

Aston

2007-07-14, 06:57 AM

I got the Read or Die OVAs. Seeing that there's a tv series based on them I guess it must be a good watch.

Wow the series takes forever to get anywhere.... I came very close to not bothering. Glad I did though. Was a really, really good ending.

OVAs are not bad. Main reason the series had such a dull first half was that most of the characters from the OVA were not around. But then it got cool fast. :)

Ergo Proxy is good. Very drab though. Colourwise.

Capt'n Ironbrow

2007-07-14, 08:32 AM

I can reccomend Tv-links.co.uk it has quite a heap of animes

it has among others:
Samurai Champloo, Afro Samurai and Hellsing.

LurkerInPlayground

2007-07-14, 01:02 PM

Watching anime on youtube endangers fansubbing as a whole. If its that easy it upsets the balance there is between legal and less then legal sources of anime. Either go torrent or buy the DVDs.
That's pretty standard rhetoric I hear all the time, but something about it always sets off a bull**** detector inside of me.

Probably because it assumes an automatic cause-and-effect. Much like assuming that God will kill kittens, strike you blind or smite you with leprosy if you masturbate. It strikes me as a disingenuous way of making an ethical point. The fact that there are illegal fansubbers out there pretty proves that "fansubbing" won't be going away.

I think that a lot of people think Animesuki does legal torrents only because they're just good people. I think they just want a community and just toe-the-line because it's the best way to preserve a community of anime fans online while, at the same time, keeping a means of distribution. It's a package-culture basically.

I suppose I'm just cynical, but I really doubt the greater "Fansubbing Cause" is really threatened by a bunch of kids with a suite of video tools and computers. If anything, you'd think that would mean that fansubbing culture would be impossible to destroy, illegal or otherwise.

LurkerInPlayground

2007-07-14, 01:08 PM

Ergo Proxy is good. Very drab though. Colourwise.
Really? I enjoyed watching parts of it. Might as well enjoy it if I go to the effort of torrenting the whole mess.

But I came to absolutely loathe it after I finished it. I think it tries too hard to be philosophical and deep. That is, I don't like identifying with schizophrenia patients just because the writer thinks there's artistic value in it.

I don't think there's any value in it because I think it's just a lame attempt at being "postmodern." And they value this more highly than actually communicating with the audience or trying to entertain them. That pisses me off.

Real Mayar was the last straw really. If there's anything that best expresses something vapid trying to pass itself off as being deep: it's a gothed-up anime chick. "Real." Geez...what a dumb name. I'm still trying to decide if the producers were trying to be ironic or were just taking themselves too seriously when they decided on that...

Ergo Proxy is not good surrealism. Haruhi Suzumiya is good surrealism. The former is weird for its own sake. The latter is cryptic in order to actually communicate the frustrations of teenage (or adult) apathy and instill a sense of magic into a world that only appears to be mundane.

FdL

2007-07-15, 11:00 PM

Any Mai-HiME fans out there? Haven't watched it yet, but I was wondering, what are those 26 specials listed in AniDB.info? Are they totally new material (and so make for completeness of watching) or are they reused footage?

Xuincherguixe

2007-07-16, 01:38 AM

A devil may cry anime, based on the video games is being done right about now too. It's nothing terribly new but I like it. Good characters.

I can't say enough good things about Claymore. It's one of the few things where all the sexuality actually fits. I think it took till episode 14 before there were any nipples which I believe is an anime record. It's gruesome and beautiful at the same time.

Death Note is wonderful too. There's a fair amount of Deus Ex Machina, and there were some questionable plot elements but all in all it's a great series. Well worth watching till the end.

Dispozition

2007-07-16, 02:20 AM

I can't say enough good things about Claymore. It's one of the few things where all the sexuality actually fits. I think it took till episode 14 before there were any nipples which I believe is an anime record. It's gruesome and beautiful at the same time.

You haven't seen many animes...I've seen at least 4 where there are no nipples at all...None what so ever!

bluish_wolf

2007-07-16, 02:39 AM

I can't say enough good things about Claymore. It's one of the few things where all the sexuality actually fits. I think it took till episode 14 before there were any nipples which I believe is an anime record. It's gruesome and beautiful at the same time.

Claymore has sexuality? Unless you consider women changing into monsters to be sexy, then, you know, ...to each their own.

The Demented One

2007-07-16, 02:41 AM

Death Note is wonderful too. There's a fair amount of Deus Ex Machina, and there were some questionable plot elements but all in all it's a great series. Well worth watching till the end.
OMEGA SPOILERS AHEAD

Death Note is pretty good up until the point where L dies. After that, it starts sucking, and just descends into one giant Xanatos Roulette. "Just as planned" my ass.

I'll recommend Pani Poni Dash, which has a rather Excel Saga-like spirit to it.

Aston

2007-07-16, 05:41 AM

Real Mayar was the last straw really. If there's anything that best expresses something vapid trying to pass itself off as being deep: it's a gothed-up anime chick. "Real." Geez...what a dumb name. I'm still trying to decide if the producers were trying to be ironic or were just taking themselves too seriously when they decided on that...

I always thought that was just an odd way of pronouncing Lil. But I still think it is well done (animated and such) but not very colourful. Which is what I was remarking on.

Is not overly brilliant, but I can think of worse ways to pass time.

Tengu

2007-07-16, 06:07 AM

Really? I enjoyed watching parts of it. Might as well enjoy it if I go to the effort of torrenting the whole mess.

But I came to absolutely loathe it after I finished it. I think it tries too hard to be philosophical and deep. That is, I don't like identifying with schizophrenia patients just because the writer thinks there's artistic value in it.

I don't think there's any value in it because I think it's just a lame attempt at being "postmodern." And they value this more highly than actually communicating with the audience or trying to entertain them. That pisses me off.

Real Mayar was the last straw really. If there's anything that best expresses something vapid trying to pass itself off as being deep: it's a gothed-up anime chick. "Real." Geez...what a dumb name. I'm still trying to decide if the producers were trying to be ironic or were just taking themselves too seriously when they decided on that...

Ergo Proxy is not good surrealism. Haruhi Suzumiya is good surrealism. The former is weird for its own sake. The latter is cryptic in order to actually communicate the frustrations of teenage (or adult) apathy and instill a sense of magic into a world that only appears to be mundane.

I've found Ergo Proxy to be a bit like Dark Tower by Stephen King - a bunch of people, led by the goal to find a certain something, travels through a devastated world and finds many strange things on the way.

I've seen the first 16 or so episodes so far and I disagree with your points - I liked it so far, and the story it tells is pretty interesting. I think that Lil is supposed to be a bit ironic as a character - and from one of her monologues in the earliest episodes, it seems she realises it herself too.

FdL

2007-07-16, 11:27 AM

You haven't seen many animes...I've seen at least 4 where there are no nipples at all...None what so ever!

It's true! And it's even more shocking. You know, the lack of anatomical correctness...

Sye216

2007-07-16, 12:43 PM

All my favorite animes have been mentioned! Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Slayers, Naruto...Well, maybe not all. Excel Saga. One of the best Animes I've ever seen. Highly recommend for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. Also like Bobobo-bo-bo-bobo. Great satire for the win, but, the story line is kinda weird. (As you can see, I like comedy... :smallamused:)

FdL

2007-07-16, 01:33 PM

bluish_wolf

2007-07-16, 03:36 PM

I always thought that was just an odd way of pronouncing Lil. But I still think it is well done (animated and such) but not very colourful. Which is what I was remarking on.

Is not overly brilliant, but I can think of worse ways to pass time.

Real's name is written on screen (in English) at one point, so that part isn't really up for debate.

Dispozition

2007-07-17, 03:45 AM

It's true! And it's even more shocking. You know, the lack of anatomical correctness...

Also incorrect...Well...I won't deny that some are rather...generous...But I've still seen a few that are pretty anatomically correct!

I have exceptions to the rules...oh yeah!

Xuincherguixe

2007-07-17, 04:41 AM

You haven't seen many animes...I've seen at least 4 where there are no nipples at all...None what so ever!

Mostly I was just being sarcastic :P

Claymore has sexuality? Unless you consider women changing into monsters to be sexy, then, you know, ...to each their own.

Regardless of if you think it's sexy or not, it's pretty blatant at times. It says a few things at various times, but by in large it's mostly implied. And you know, there's the whole gigantic breasts things too.

Ozymandias

2007-07-17, 08:35 AM

Paranoia Agent is quite good. I'm also a fan of Samurai 7. Naruto is kind of a guilty pleasure, but at least it's better than Inuyasha. I've also haerd good things about Peacemaker Kurogane.

Aston

2007-07-17, 01:31 PM

Real's name is written on screen (in English) at one point, so that part isn't really up for debate.

Ah. Did not notice that/have forgotten it.

Excel Saga is very strange.... Killing the MAIN character in the first episode is unusual to say the least....

Foeofthelance

2007-07-17, 10:41 PM

Excel Saga is very strange....

Couldn't take the spoiler with the quote, but if you thought Excel Saga's opening was odd, try Gantz. It opens with the main characters getting run over by a train, ressurected by a black sphere seemingly owned by the Japanese military, all so they can go hunt a really violent alien based around...leeks. As in that plant a Farfetch'd carries with it to beat things with. From there it only gets stranger...

Aston

2007-07-19, 01:09 PM

Quirinus_Obsidian

2007-07-20, 05:31 PM

Excel Saga is very strange.... Killing the MAIN character in the first episode is unusual to say the least....

I loved Excel Saga. Doing that (yon spoiler) was fantastic to say the least. Not many shows do that, save Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Menchi episodes were a little weak, but funny nonetheless.

Having Hyatt-chan keep dying millions of times and seeing Excel-chan's reaction was just priceless

FdL

2007-07-20, 06:44 PM

Couldn't take the spoiler with the quote, but if you thought Excel Saga's opening was odd, try Gantz. It opens with the main characters getting run over by a train, ressurected by a black sphere seemingly owned by the Japanese military, all so they can go hunt a really violent alien based around...leeks. As in that plant a Farfetch'd carries with it to beat things with. From there it only gets stranger...

Sorry, but I have to correct you. In no way is the black orb related to the japanese military. Its origins, workings and intentions are unknown and a mystery, it's one of the main sources of the disconcerting and tense air the series has.

And I didn't get the plant reference, really... :p

Fun....

Does the rest of it live up to what sounds like a promising start?

First: I think Gantz is awesome.

The anime is good, I think. It really caught my attention because it's surreal, tense and shocking, all at the same time. It's like a twisted game of survival and personal moral, where regular people are forced to kill alien monsters to survive. And as in a Lord of the Flies situation, people show different sides to them when they are immersed in violence and are given power. It's very interesting psychologically, to see how different personalities react to the situation.

The main character, Kurono, is a volatile, frustrated teenager and finds it liberating, becomes really effective in the hunts and gains confidence. Kato on the other hand is kinder and cares for his teammates, and he prefers to use a capture gun rather than killing aliens.

Others, as Izumi and Nishi revel in violence and glorify it, even to sadistic levels. But most of those who get drafted to the game just want to survive...And not many do.

But it's an inferior adaptation of the manga. In the anime there's a "filler", non-canonic ending. And it blows, the whole last saga is made up and it's awful.
The manga goes on, and I'd say, exponentially raising the stakes with each story arc. It's a wild ride, all adrenalin and shock. It's exhilarating.

There are only two seasons of anime, covering roughly 7 of the 20 (almost 21, it's still ongoing) manga volumes. The manga is just being licensed in the US.

Also, the series does feature a lot of extreme violence and sex, so it's not for everyone. I don't know the ratings for the anime, or if the manga is going to be censored (I hope not). It's after all a seinen series.

So well, the anime is pretty good, it's really good in fact, but if you put it in context, the manga is better and should be preferred. The series is a little dumbed down, like all adaptations. If you just watch the anime, you're missing the development of the plot and get a slightly watered down version of the first story arcs.

Dispozition

2007-07-20, 08:58 PM

OK...Just downloaded...ERmm...I mean, bought *cough* She, the ultimate weapon, aka Saikano...

It looks good from what I've seen on wiki and all that...I'll probably watch most of it today...

Also, can't reiterate enough that Ghost in the Shell is awesome.

And Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai is probably better than the original!

Lemur

2007-07-20, 09:19 PM

Another series currently coming out has caught my attention: Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (So Long, Mr. Despair). It's a comedy anime about a suicidal high school teacher. The first two episodes, at the very least, have been great. In addition to constant nonsense, the animation is brilliant. Perhaps the ending credits (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I40hIwHOWNw) will give a hint at what I mean.

If you liked Azumanga Daioh, you'd probably like the manga Yotsuba&! (possibly translated Yotsuba to!). Not made into an anime, but it's by the same guy.

FdL

2007-07-21, 02:14 AM

Saikano it's very good IMHO. I kinda couldn't stand it when I tried to watch it because it made me so sad. But it's lovely.

Another series currently coming out has caught my attention: Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (So Long, Mr. Despair). It's a comedy anime about a suicidal high school teacher. The first two episodes, at the very least, have been great. In addition to constant nonsense, the animation is brilliant. Perhaps the ending credits (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I40hIwHOWNw) will give a hint at what I mean.

If you liked Azumanga Daioh, you'd probably like the manga Yotsuba&! (possibly translated Yotsuba to!). Not made into an anime, but it's by the same guy.

Yay! Two good recommendations! Thanks!
I like that crazy style of comedy. Azumanga makes me laugh so hard.

Kojiro Kakita

2007-07-21, 05:40 AM

Well, here are the anime I am watching and consider to be an excellent watch
Legend of the Galatic Heroes ( a must for any war genre fan)
Seto NO Hanayome ( a Good comedy)
Sayonara Zetsubo Senesi ( very funny)
Lucky STar (Aya Hirano nuff said)

FdL

2007-07-25, 08:52 PM

I'm well 15 chapters into Mai-HiME, and I'm hooked.

It's very well managed, the story unfolds gradually, without too much abruptness. But it suddenly reaches huge levels of excitement. In fact I don't know how it's going to be from here to the end, but I think it's going to rule (NO SPOILERS PLEASE.)

I like how there are bits in some chapters that are built upon. It keeps the story flowing and very well integrated, not just as episodic as some of these anime tend to be.

Compared to Kiddy Grade, the previous anime of this style I saw, KG was too episodic in the beginning, also kinda light-hearted, until there's a major break and it catches speed (though it does get really good).

Of course, by now I love some of the characters. I'm partial to the "bad girls"...Natsuki would be number one, followed by Nao and Midori (not as sassy but she's beyond the schoolgirl thing).

Did anyone notice how Mikoto is very similar in every respect to Su from Love Hina? It must be a type of character...I guess they'd get along well together. :p
And for octopus girl (Shiho)...I can't make up my mind as to hate her or just endure her. :S

Well, I was surprised to like the series this much, and so I recommend it to all.

Gavin Sage

2007-07-26, 02:01 AM

That's pretty standard rhetoric I hear all the time, but something about it always sets off a bull**** detector inside of me.

Probably because it assumes an automatic cause-and-effect. Much like assuming that God will kill kittens, strike you blind or smite you with leprosy if you masturbate. It strikes me as a disingenuous way of making an ethical point. The fact that there are illegal fansubbers out there pretty proves that "fansubbing" won't be going away.

I think that a lot of people think Animesuki does legal torrents only because they're just good people. I think they just want a community and just toe-the-line because it's the best way to preserve a community of anime fans online while, at the same time, keeping a means of distribution. It's a package-culture basically.

I suppose I'm just cynical, but I really doubt the greater "Fansubbing Cause" is really threatened by a bunch of kids with a suite of video tools and computers. If anything, you'd think that would mean that fansubbing culture would be impossible to destroy, illegal or otherwise.

You imply there is such a thing as a "legal" fansub. There isn't, at least by any way the terms are defined. The only reason you there is a distinction between unlicensed/licensed anime is because Japanese companies aren't likely to care about what a bunch of foreigners do before they have anything to loose. Legally speaking licensing is irrelevant since fansubbing is by definition unauthorized reproduction and thus illegal. Its not the sort of law that has much push for enforcement, however any fansub or distributor of can be targeted.

Yes I agree any level of enforcement isn't going to stomp things out, but it can cause a lot of problems and make life generally harder for all involved. I'd rather not see AnimeSuki get shutdown. In recent months there has been a crackdown on Youtube content. And someone like Little Kuriboh has been banned and YGO:Abrided (a parody and thus protected/defendable on grounds of free-use and the 1st Amendment) tossed off. I'd rather not see AMVs chucked off wholesale too, or hasten Youtube being reduced to just sponsored content and idiot videoes.

Understand this isn't so much an ethical argument as one of what will happen in the real world. And that means a measure of discretion unless something major happens in copyright law.

Belteshazzar

2007-07-26, 01:09 PM

Artemician

2007-07-27, 06:09 AM

The only advice I think I can add to this thread is if you try to watch Full Metal Panic then for the sake you ears watch the English version because the translation is very good and one of the main characters Japanese voices (Tessa to be specific) is likely to drive one up the wall. Cute (manipulative) girl but all I remember clawing at my ears to make the voice stop when watching the sub version.

Hmm? I watched it subbed, and didn't really find any problem with Tessa's voice. It was pretty high-pitched, but not in any really stupid way, like english dubs of One Piece or Naruto.

Gavin Sage

2007-07-27, 04:42 PM

The Naruto dub does not deserve its bad rap, namely because the main character's voice is rather accurate and many don't grasp how irritating Naruto is supposed to be. Which is not to say its without issues either.

Though for Full Metal Panic I found Tessa annoying in both languages. I preferred the original simply because I can tune out Japanese easier.

Castaras

2007-07-27, 05:01 PM

I'm currently watching Rurouni Kenshin, and am busy searching for a place to get Magic Knight Rayearth, which I have also enjoyed the first few episodes of.

Nanoha was good. And another that has intrigued me is Simoun, but I haven't yet finished.

FdL

2007-07-27, 06:10 PM

The Naruto dub does not deserve its bad rap, namely because the main character's voice is rather accurate and many don't grasp how irritating Naruto is supposed to be. Which is not to say its without issues either.

True, he is supposed to be annoying. But I have to add that I can't recall an anime english dub that I considered as good.

Gavin Sage

2007-07-27, 08:15 PM

True, he is supposed to be annoying. But I have to add that I can't recall an anime english dub that I considered as good.

This is a theory based mostly on my observations of myself, but I don't think we fairly judge subs and dubs. I've noticed particularly with say movies of various lengths that after awhile you stop noticing the subtitles. I've found that I (and I strongly suspect others as well) don't really listen to languages we can't understand. Try repeating back a line someone just said in Japanese, and then try repeating back a line you hear in English. Is English easier? We don't hear the Japanese voices fully, and instead fill in the voice with out own mental conceptions based on what the sub-titling prompts us is said.

How does this relate to dubs, well its because we are comparing the dub voice not against its original counterpart, but our own mental expectation of what a voice should sound like. And thus that an alien voice is found wanting next to our mental perfect one should come as no surprise. For comparasion, look a book and its movie adaptation, which is almost always said to be better? The book, because its minimalist style engages our minds to picture a scene and when something new comes along that's different it has to compete against our personal vision.

So I got to thinking is there any reason why subbing should be better then dubbing? I mean afterall its not like America hasn't produced its own animation with great voices (check out Batman:TAS sometime, and Luke Skywalker's Joker who is considered by many the definitive portrayal of the Joker) over the years, so I can't see how Americans are somehow innately defincient. Nor is translation ruining it a valid argument, since subbing is no less a translation. Honestly I couldn't think of a reason why there couldn't be a good dub.

So I started experimenting and trying to be a little bit more open minded. I tried taking a step back and really listening to the Japanese voice and comparing it to the American one. And I found that there is actually a good deal of dub work that is really very good. If its not James Earl Jones good fine, but I find that the companies are actually pretty good at matching their VAs with the seiyu. And maybe the Japanese voice work is not as great as we like to imagine.

I'm at the point where I watch dubbing as the norm for me. I'll still turn subtitles on but for the sole reason of squeezing a few tibits more of information, since dubbing is limited by the animation and that the English language is much slower then Japanese.

This is not to say there aren't problems out there with dubbing. Certain series I have I cannot stand the English vocal work on. The VA community in the states still seems fairly small, and a guy like Crispin Freeman shows up all over the place and I can always recognize the voice and sometimes it just plain doesn't fit. However I also find cases where the dub would be improved not by say capturing the original more accurately, but in not being afraid to vary from it. Japanese has some weird sensiblities to it that don't translate well, loud annoying character for example can be a lot louder in Japanese seemingly but in English that could be toned back and improve the dub artistic quality.

The more serious issue with dubbing traditionally has thankfully been addressed rather well over the years. Namely not the dub work, but editing. Consider the cases of Robotech and Voltron in the 80s, American comgomlerates made of different anime series. Things like name changes, plot reworkings, and even basic violence editing have been drying up. You see blood in Naruto, they even call Jiraiya a pervert and do the arse-poke. Hell in Bleach they use Japanese pronunciation for things like names.

Okay this is getting long but in short I think dubs have come a long way, don't deserve a fifth of their bad rap, and that people should be more open minded.

For some excellent dub work my best example is Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, where I think the dub work is stellar and prefer it to the subtitles. I think every single one of the voices is so perfect I get a bit annoyed when one of the actors shows up in another series, since they still sound a bit like there GitS character and I do double takes. Some others have included Samurai Champloo, Bleach, and all the Studio Ghibli movies.

And on a side note I went back to old DBZ and listened to the Jap-version and nearly gagged on some of the voices. Translation can improve a series it seems. Which isn't even touching the strange case of the Samurai Pizza Cats, which was completely redited for the better. (Too bad its impossible to find)

Tengu

2007-07-27, 08:33 PM

There is one anime I liked more with dubs, and that's Steamboy - in the original version all the characters were just speaking Japanese, maybe in a way that varies between characters but was completely lost to me due to not knowing the language apart from some basics. It the dubbed version, on the other hand, you could hear a plethora of accents, many of them characteristic for the character's background - high class English, cockney, et cetera.

Though I admit, some other anime is also dubbed well, for example FMA - I just prefer the subbed version.

Also, having finished watching Ergo Proxy lately, I must say - it rocks. Not as much as my top three, but rocks nevertheless.

FdL

2007-07-27, 09:28 PM

This is a theory based mostly on my observations of myself, but I don't think we fairly judge subs and dubs. I've noticed particularly with say movies of various lengths that after awhile you stop noticing the subtitles. I've found that I (and I strongly suspect others as well) don't really listen to languages we can't understand. Try repeating back a line someone just said in Japanese, and then try repeating back a line you hear in English. Is English easier? We don't hear the Japanese voices fully, and instead fill in the voice with out own mental conceptions based on what the sub-titling prompts us is said.

Personally I was referring to animes which I've seen in both the subbed original and dubbed to english, so there's no "imagination" factor, I'm comparing the dub to the original.

I'm at the point where I watch dubbing as the norm for me. I'll still turn subtitles on but for the sole reason of squeezing a few tibits more of information, since dubbing is limited by the animation and that the English language is much slower then Japanese.

The thing is more complex that you put it to be. There are many reasons to prefer any work in its subtitled version.

Dubbing is always a re-interpretation, a version of the work that is second to the original. In every adaptation and translation there is loss, that's for sure. And there is also adaptation (I have to say that I know about this as I am a translation student), which has to bridge many cultural and artistic gaps between the original and the target audience.

Now, the practice of dubbing or subtitling is not the same everywhere. For example I lived in spain, and they have a policy to have everything dubbed, it's very rare to see a film subtitled there. And of course, people get used to it and reject subtitled versions.
Now I live in Argentina, and it's very different, because here it's the opposite: all foreign films are presented in subtitled form (except lately with blockbuster children movies, they are presented in both versions). Again, people are used to it. We even watch American sitcoms in subbed versions.

There's also the fact that anime as an art form or commercial form of entertainment or whatever, doesn't hold the same place in japan that in the rest of the world. In japan the seiyu are admired and worshiped as much as actors are in the US. There's a huge anime industry and audience. There's anime for different ages and audiences.

In the USA, like in the rest of the world, it's mostly still considered as "cartoons". And so, when making dubs of it they don't seem to take it too seriously, I'm sorry to tell. As you said, there are not that many voice actors who work in the field, and I guess not all of them are up to standard. Well, the same happens in other places.
The ony reason why this is changing in the west is because of the rise in all-audiences animated works, like The Simpsons and animated movies like Disney makes.

Add to this the fact that japanese language, its intricacies, fast pace, use of puns and plays on word meanings and sounds are quite difficult to translate, and more so to dub.

So, often the translations have to adapt or replace things with an "english language/US culture" version. For an unsuspecting audience (that will be watching dubbed anime because it's easier to see) the changes could go unnoticed, and so are not getting the true meaning.

I consider that subbed anime, like subbed foreign movies are for purists, but this practice also shows a lot more respect to the original. And yeah, one could think that as a translator I'm taking the wrong position with what i'm saying. But that's precisely why I take it. For example, I always prefer to read novels in their original language. I think it's worth it if you can "afford it".

Taking all of the above in consideration, I think it's always better to have a subbed version because it's closer to the original.

The more serious issue with dubbing traditionally has thankfully been addressed rather well over the years. Namely not the dub work, but editing. Consider the cases of Robotech and Voltron in the 80s, American comgomlerates made of different anime series. Things like name changes, plot reworkings, and even basic violence editing have been drying up. You see blood in Naruto, they even call Jiraiya a pervert and do the arse-poke. Hell in Bleach they use Japanese pronunciation for things like names.

Sure, this was a shame, with things like "Robotech" and all. It's like I said, anime was considered to be just japanese cartoons and was treated no better than G.I. Joe or other crappy 80's US animation series.

And about editing and censorship, it's another cultural gap that's difficult to cross, for the same reasons. Some things that are normal in anime for a japanese audience surely could be considered as not appropiate for children.

Oh, and I also have to add that most spanish language versions I've seen are pretty good (latin american ones, that is, the ones from spain usually blow). Naruto for example is very well done IMHO. As is most of the stuff in Animax-LA.

Nerd-o-rama

2007-07-27, 09:33 PM

Tengu

2007-07-27, 09:42 PM

Hi. I'm from ten years ago

Don't feel bad about it, I'm from the mesozoic age - I discovered Evangelion last year, and still haven't seen some great classics (for example Cowboy Bebop).

jazz1m

2007-07-27, 10:06 PM

Ooh, there are some really great ones
Yakitate Japan Azuma Kazuma wants to make Japan (a pun on the word bread in Japanese which is 'pan') or the ultimate Japanese bread. Yup it's about breadmaking, and it's excellent. Lot of culture references and such, but on good subs a lot of it is explained.

Keroro Gunso Aliens try to invade the earth but fail when the lose the peko ball. Now they all belong to humans and are trying to get back together to once again take over the earth

HunterxHunter Kids who want to become 'hunters' have to go through training, typical action genre, gets kind of similar to DBZ towards the end, but it's an interesting idea

Lain Might've already been mentioned, but great anime about the real world and the internet melding and becoming one. Really cool.

Azumanga Daioh High school comic about five girls and their daily life. Funny and there's not the typical boy-girl romance going on, just girls figuring out what's what and going through the years of school, activities, teachers, and graduation.

Hikaru no Go An anime about the game go. A kid stumbles upon an old go board and awakens a spirit who teaches him about go. Eventually the kid learns on his own and gets the attention of many rivals.

FdL

2007-07-27, 10:20 PM

Heh! Nothing wrong with discovering the classics! What would be worse is if you only watched new anime and ignored the good things out there.

I've been wanting to see Nadesico, I like it for what I've seen aired on local Animax.

Also, in a slightly retro vibe too I want to watch Bakuretsu Hunters. I dig the vibe it has, it's like Slayers but a little naughtier.

And I've yet to see Evangelion. I've only watched a few episodes, way back. But then again robot fights aren't my cup of tea. Of course, I plan on watching it someday. But I wouldn't be caught dead watching Gundam or something. Not my cup of sake.

What I like about Hunter X Hunter is the first part, the part about the tests. It's very interesting to watch. I know later it turns into another typical series of superpowered fights. It's still pretty cool, but it's kinda unoriginal. Some characters are downright scary. It gets pretty dark.

Oh, and I'm watching Love Hina. But that's not so old, is it?

Lemur

2007-07-28, 12:07 AM

Heh, Yakitate Japan. The premise is about making bread, but it's probably more accurate to call it a humor/parody show (there are serious manga that revolve around cooking, which is why I make the distinction).

I remember seeing some episodes a while back. Like Hayate no Gotoku and Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei, it contains lots of references and parodies to other anime and cultural things, so you'll miss a lot of humor unless you've seen a fair amount of anime or the like already. Lots of puns, too.

In a way, it also reminds me of Eyeshield 21- like Yakitate Japan is a cooking anime/manga that isn't really about cooking, Eyeshield 21 is a sports manga that isn't so much about sports. I have to admit, I'm addicted to a Japanese comic about American football. Avoid the anime like the plague though, as there are no words to describe how much it sucks.

I don't even like American Football that much (which maybe explains why I like the manga), but if I had to pin a reason on it, the characters are certainly unique (the quarterback for the protagonists team is one of the most villainous characters in the entire comic, for example), and it's really unpredictable. Unlike a lot of shounen manga, where it's obvious the heroes will win and it's just a matter of how, things aren't always so certain in this case.

AslanCross

2007-07-29, 07:08 AM

Hi. I'm from ten years ago, and just discovered Martian Successor Nadesico. I think you should watch it.

It also has a very competent dub (complete with Spike "Dib" Spencer), which is good, since I couldn't figure out to turn on the smegging subtitles.

I loved the English dub of Nadesico. I also only watched it a few months ago.

The last two episodes of Code Geass have been released. The ending is a huge cliffhanger, as usual. I just love this anime.

Artemician

2007-07-29, 10:21 AM

Speaking of Subs/Dubs, I'm halfway through Trigun, and frankly, the Japanese voices are horrible. I've heard that the English dub is actually quite good, so I'm wondering if I should pick that up.

I'm of the opinion that it will be better, after all, American slang and English words are thrown around like nobody's business, and it is a cowboy-ish themed anime.

TheLoveInterest

2007-07-29, 01:13 PM

I'm a fan of creepy anime's,
Try Boogiepop Phantom (this is my favorite anime of all time and curently I am angry because they made it into really cruddy mangas and novels. Whatever you do, don't read them. Just watch the anime. Late at night. Alone. :sabine: ),
The Lain Saga,
Or Hellsing.

The last one isn't as creepy but I like it because I am a fan of the manga

Matar

2007-07-29, 01:58 PM

Wow... I didn't even know I had an acount here...

Anyways...

Animes I reconmend.

Berserk - One of my fav animes. The manga, however, is loads better and still on-going.

Hellsing OAV - Alucard is badass. Simple as that.

Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust - Real good. Love the animation. Also, the english voices fecking *rock*. Real good.

Grave of the Fireflies - It made me cry. It is good. Hell, one of the best.

Record of Lodoss War - Awsome anime with a DnD feel to it.

Akira - Excelent.

Those should tie you over well enough.

averagejoe

2007-07-29, 02:51 PM

Record of Lodoss War - Awsome anime with a DnD feel to it.

It had more than just a DnD feel. Heck, it was this close from going, "Quick, Dee, attack while you still have the THACO bonus!" or whatever.

But, yeah, Akira was pretty awsome. Among my favoritest movies in any genre.

FdL

2007-07-29, 03:24 PM

I finished watching Mai-HiME. I liked it a lot and I recommend it to everyone.

AslanCross

2007-07-30, 05:24 AM

It had more than just a DnD feel. Heck, it was this close from going, "Quick, Dee, attack while you still have the THACO bonus!" or whatever.

But, yeah, Akira was pretty awsome. Among my favoritest movies in any genre.

If I'm not mistaken, Slayers is another very D&D-ish anime. It was based on an actual campaign I think.

Attilargh

2007-07-30, 06:12 AM

If I'm not mistaken, Slayers is another very D&D-ish anime. It was based on an actual campaign I think.
Actually, it was the Record of Lodoss War that was based on a game of DnD. I believe Slayers is only a parody.

Hell Puppi

2007-07-30, 03:58 PM

Record of Lodoss.....damn I haven't seen the end to that one!

Perhaps someone could help me out. I was watching an anime with my friend and I've completely forgotten the name of it. I know it's pretty famous, but I didn't get to see the ending to it and am trying to track it down. It about a fighter-type guy who hunts down demons. There's also a noble-type with a rapier, and something bad happens to the main character girl, but never saw what exactly. Just remember someone telling me. Was in a medieval setting.

Yeah not much to go off of, but I haven't seen what little I saw of it in over a year.

North

2007-07-30, 04:06 PM

Ranma 1/2 Has always been my favorite.

And the dub was excellant. Very good casting for the voices. Then in a later season Ranmas voice was changed :smallmad:

Lemur

2007-07-30, 05:08 PM

Hellpuppi, that might, might, be Berserk. It's hard to say, but that's the only thing I can think of that might fit. If it's not, I'm as curious as you are.

Do these characters look familiar?
http://www.fantastikasia.net/img/imgcriti/imintern/berserk0.jpg

Hell Puppi

2007-07-30, 10:56 PM

YES!!!! Hahaha now I can finally figure out what happens!!!
Thank you!:smallbiggrin:

Haruki-kun

2007-07-31, 11:42 PM

This threadhas five pages already, but for the sake of particpationg, I'm gonna post too!

My recomendations are:

FullMetal Alchemist
xxxHOLiC
Zero no Tsukaima (This one's not too long.)
Shakugan no Shana
Chobits
Azumanga Daioh
Gintama

I'm currenlty watching Mai-HiME, whic is actually pretty good too.

Setra

2007-08-01, 12:58 AM

I'm starting to watch Death Note, finally, I certainly recommend what I've seen so far.

I also recommend Air, and Kaleido Star while we're on the subject.

As for Berserk, technically you can't get the full story unless you read the manga, the anime is.. how to put it, cut off prematurely, and adapted for said cutting off, though still very good.

Similar to FMA except Berserk has less deviation.

--

As for the dub v sub, my comments: It's not that I dislike English voices... it's that I either do not think they match the character, or the emotion they display is.. often lacking. At least when voice is concerned. At least in the Japanese, I can't tell if the voice is horrible :smalltongue: Though I do like certain dubs (Saiyuki, FMA, Hellsing, etc.)

Another thing is, I'd rather look at a Japanese joke I may not get, rather than look at a badly represented English translation.

Final comments, sometimes, the dub horribly destroys an anime. Case in point, Cardcaptor Sakura. If you've seen both, you cannot deny that the dub did something horrible. I'd rather watch the sub than take the risk it was horribly done.

That said, I don't care if people watch it dubbed or subbed, but I'm highly annoyed if people say I'm wrong for my views. My ex hated the fact I preferred subs, and didn't spare her voice to complain.

Foeofthelance

2007-08-01, 02:37 PM

Sorry, but I have to correct you. In no way is the black orb related to the japanese military. Its origins, workings and intentions are unknown and a mystery, it's one of the main sources of the disconcerting and tense air the series has.

And I didn't get the plant reference, really... :p

Really? I thought the old guy from the first team mentioned it being assosciated with the Japanese military, and then the kid backing him up. Apparently he was a vice minister or something? Actually, I'm not sure if the leek thing was intended as a Farfetch'd reference or not, all I remember is the Sphere saying, "Has a fondness for leeks" and then the alien offering them all some when it opened the door. I couldn't help but think of Farfetch'd at that point.

First: I think Gantz is awesome.

The anime is good, I think. It really caught my attention because it's surreal, tense and shocking, all at the same time. It's like a twisted game of survival and personal moral, where regular people are forced to kill alien monsters to survive. And as in a Lord of the Flies situation, people show different sides to them when they are immersed in violence and are given power. It's very interesting psychologically, to see how different personalities react to the situation.

The main character, Kurono, is a volatile, frustrated teenager and finds it liberating, becomes really effective in the hunts and gains confidence. Kato on the other hand is kinder and cares for his teammates, and he prefers to use a capture gun rather than killing aliens.

Others, as Izumi and Nishi revel in violence and glorify it, even to sadistic levels. But most of those who get drafted to the game just want to survive...And not many do.

I completely agree that the show was awesome. (How many epsiodes were in each season? I've seen 25 or 26, but I don't know if they were 13 epsiode seasons or not.) Admittedly though, I thought the entire point of the series was gratuitous violence and getting to watch people get killed in various ways. I shall have to pick up the manga and investigate further.

Further series to reccomend: Black Lagoon and .//Roots. Black Lagoon especially is very entertaining. "You know that's a torpedo you're hiding under, right?"

FdL

2007-08-01, 05:17 PM

Really? I thought the old guy from the first team mentioned it being assosciated with the Japanese military, and then the kid backing him up. Apparently he was a vice minister or something? Actually, I'm not sure if the leek thing was intended as a Farfetch'd reference or not, all I remember is the Sphere saying, "Has a fondness for leeks" and then the alien offering them all some when it opened the door. I couldn't help but think of Farfetch'd at that point.

I had no idea what "Farfetch'd" was until I looked it up in Wikipedia :S
The series always makes weird references to pop culture, but I'm not sure if they refer to that Pokemon with the onion alien thing. Personally I doubt it.

What Nishi (the creepy middle school kid) says to the gantzers about the origin of the black sphere and the game being related to the government is a bluff to get them moving, IIRC.

I completely agree that the show was awesome. (How many epsiodes were in each season? I've seen 25 or 26, but I don't know if they were 13 epsiode seasons or not.)

26 episodes in all, there are two 13 episode "seasons".

Admittedly though, I thought the entire point of the series was gratuitous violence and getting to watch people get killed in various ways. I shall have to pick up the manga and investigate further.

Well, while it does feature a lot of violence and sex, I don't think that's the main point or that is gratuitous. As a seinen it's aimed towards more mature audiences, and it could be described as part of a horror/sci-fi genre, so I guess it's natural to feature more explicit violence than most regular series.

It's very interesting though to see how the anime needlessly exagerates the violence and sex elements. The manga has a different pace and does a better job at portraying the characters psychologically and emotionally, which IMHO is what makes the series great, to see how regular people react to such dangerous and absurd situations they are put into. I think character development is an important element to the series, though obviously, you don't get to see a lot of it with just the anime.

Tower

2007-08-25, 11:03 PM

Don't feel bad about it, I'm from the mesozoic age - I discovered Evangelion last year, and still haven't seen some great classics (for example Cowboy Bebop).

I don't like anime, but I have seen and own one series I like. That set is Samurai Champloo.
That was the same guy that did Cowboy Bebop, (which I must be one of the few that didn't like that series) but Samurai Champloo is good. First five are a little slow but they have some good episodes after that.

This is a random plug but several people I know say Elfin Lied is good.

Artemician

2007-08-26, 12:05 AM

Heeh. Raise Thread! Raise Thread!

But in any case, since the last time I posted in this thread, I've watched a few more anime, and thus can make recommendations.

Zero no Tsukaima is.. a wierd series. Basically, it's Ouran High School Host Club meets Harry Potter. Yes. I'm serious. Watch it if you liked Ouran, if you didn't give it a pass.

Trigun is.. also wierd, really. I haven't finished watching it, but the filler is tiresome. Maybe the ending is better, but as of episode 15, there isn't any content at all, so I got bored and moved on. I found the script deeply philosophical, but the way the actors said it.. made it farcical. So I don't know. If it gets more serious at the end, I'll continue watching, but as of now, it's on hiatus.

~
And I still stand by Full Metal Panic!, Fate/Stay Night, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Full Metal Alchemist. All people who can watch them, should.

Heh. Although I'm noone to talk, still haven't watched Princess Mononoke. Doopdedoopdidoo...:smallwink:

Setra

2007-08-26, 01:04 AM

I don't like anime, but I have seen and own one series I like. That set is Samurai Champloo.
That was the same guy that did Cowboy Bebop, (which I must be one of the few that didn't like that series) but Samurai Champloo is good. First five are a little slow but they have some good episodes after that.

This is a random plug but several people I know say Elfin Lied is good.
Elfin Lied makes me want to hide under my bed.

But I'm weird like that.

Also, I'm not really a fan of Cowboy Bebop either, just not my style. Then again neither is Samurai Champloo.

Tengu

2007-08-26, 03:00 AM

Elfen Lied is a combination of those four elements (most episodes have roughly equal amounts of each):

-Cute
-Angst
-Softcore Porn
-Extreme Violence And Lots Of Blood

It's decent and I don't consider my time watching it wasted, but not brilliant.

As for Trigun - yes, it does get more serious later. In fact, so serious that the light-hearted elements are needed to soften the otherwise borderline depression-inflicting things that happen on screen.

Cubey

2007-08-26, 03:02 AM

Elfin Lied makes me want to hide under my bed.

But I'm weird like that.

Elfen Lied is one of these shows (I'm not saying anime, as non-anime shows like this exist too), in which when you remove gratitious graphical violence and fanservice, you get left behing with nothing - no plot, no depth and definately no likeable characters.
Okay, some jokes were rather funny. Opening theme in Ominous Latin Chanting isn't bad either. But it wasn't enough - I grew bored about ~6 episodes and went on, never looking back.

Setra

2007-08-26, 08:19 AM

-Cute
-Softcore Porn
-Extreme Violence And Lots Of Blood
See this is the problem.

I like Cute, and Porn. Then she rips some guy apart, starting with his crotch. It does bad things to me.

Cilam

2007-08-26, 03:46 PM

I like Cute, and Porn. Then she rips some guy apart, starting with his crotch. It does bad things to me.

It does bad things to everyone.

horseboy

2007-08-26, 08:03 PM

And on a side note I went back to old DBZ and listened to the Jap-version and nearly gagged on some of the voices. Translation can improve a series it seems. Which isn't even touching the strange case of the Samurai Pizza Cats, which was completely redited for the better. (Too bad its impossible to find)

Stronger (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUrTrIiitcI) than (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPXtFOSAz5k) old (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y9EXTjU2AU) cheese and more fun than throwing water balloons at a drowning man! a series [as] really needs to get a hold of, so someone would do a DVD of the series. :smallamused:

FdL

2007-08-26, 11:13 PM

Well, now I'm going to have to watch Elfen Lied. Had my doubts, but it's pretty popular anyway, so I want to have an opinion.

The Vanishing Hitchhiker

2007-08-27, 12:17 AM

Anime? Why, if you asked me to recommend three anime, I'd say "Kino's Journey" (Kino no Tabi) three times. If you don't like the first three episodes, you just don't deserve to see the rest of 'em. My favorite episodes are four (everyone loves that one) and twelve.

Anyway, it's like...well...the Wikipedia article quotes the author of the books saying something like, "Well, I'd never read Le Petit Prince, but I've read it now and it's real sweet of y'all to be saying that." :smallbiggrin: So traveling to interesting places(hence the title), meeting interesting people, and then there's guns (sometimes useful when people get too interesting). And a talking motorcycle - if that bothers you, imagine he's a narrative device, like everyone the Doctor hangs out with in Doctor Who (yeah, it's a dude motorcycle...).

It's like...pretty rolling Ghibli hillsides, and inbetween there's robots and chicks inventing airplanes and people killing people and stuff.

I also recommend watching it with subtitles, but I'm biased on account of Hermes's English voice making me want to kill puppies in the face with pointy things on fire. Hermes is my favorite god of legend, bar none, and I will not have someone named for him talking like an old lady robot with emphysema standing inside a big echoy cave made of something metallic. :smallyuk: Other than that though the rest of the voices are great, and the dubbing is excellent...oh, except for episode ten, switch that back to subtitles. People ask Kino for advice in that one and I seem to recall that the dub changes it - rather a large difference between "Don't get killed" and "Don't kill anyone." :smallwink:

Anyway. So yeah. Kino's Journey! Woo! And if you care to read the books, they're very sloooowly being translated into English. They've done...one so far. Le sigh.

Artemician

2007-08-27, 02:09 AM

The Vanishing Hitchhiker

2007-08-27, 03:27 PM

Heeh. You're going to hate me for saying this.

I hated Kino's Journey. Never saw why people liked it so much. Alien characters (literally, Kino doesn't think like a human), Alien Landscapes, Alien Themes. I couldn't relate to anyone, and the end result was basically like a psychotropic trip to the back of my head. Gave up after the third episode.

The first three episodes are pretty slow, actually. Hence when translating the first book, the English edition takes the chapter the fourth episode is based on and make it the first chapter. Well, that, and the arrogant assumption that Americans are stupid and want their plots and backstories laid out on a table, preferably outlined in the very theme song (which must also repeat the title of the show eight or nine times, you know, in case we forget what show we're watching before it even starts)...eh, but I digress (and really hate theme songs, it seems).

It's one of those series where things aren't necessarily in chronological order, and that never helps. Episode four does a little to explain why Kino does things a certain way...and episode thirteen (the last episode, it's a nice short series*), for that matter. I suppose it's what Doctor Who would be like if one of those other, non-renegade Time Lords were in the Doctor's place. And if the TARDIS could talk...and was shaped like a motorcycle... Never mind, this simile is getting weird.

Ah well, that's why these are all recommendations, and not compulsory.

"This is no pet license, it's a fishing license! And it's mandatory!" :smallbiggrin:

*course, there's a fifteen minute pilot episode, and a movie, and apparently another movie...