Sell me an Anime!

[ReluctantDragon]

Looking into getting into a new Anime. I am not at all a cultural expert on the genre and am looking to simply be entertained.

Anime's I've watched and enjoyed:

Cowboy Bebop
Rurouni Kenshin
Akira

Dragonball Z (I consider this like candy. Its only really good in small doses)

So, any recommendations given what I've enjoyed so far?

[Haruki-kun]

Since you seem to like Shonen Animé, I'd suggest Bleach.

@V: That works, too.

[Poison_Fish]

Your action oriented it seems, so how about some Samurai Champloo?

[sun_tzu]

IT's been said that History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is the new Ruroni Kenshin. It's certainly an anime I recommend - great fights, great characters, great humor.

[Behold_the_Void]

Soul Eater is probably one of the best shounen anime airing right now. Great setting and generally just a lot of fun.

For something actually licensed, check out FMA, it's a solid series with a lot of good plot and good action.

Both series are by studio Bones, which is just phenomenally good at animation.

[AslanCross]

-Pumpkin Scissors. Pseudo-historical, set in "Germany" after World War I.
-Shadow Skill. The rare martial arts anime where the protagonist is a musclebound female. (At least for the first part.)
-Code Geass. Great first season. The second season was pretty entertaining, though it's kinda different from the first.

The title of the thread also reminds me somewhat of those illegal anime and pr0n vendors back in a seedy mall we had here (that has since burned down and was revamped to become a higher-end mall). They'd have big beltbags full of stuff or would hide them under their shirts, tucked into their pants. (). Then they'd go up to you surreptitiously and whisper "Boss, X DVDs..."

[Revlid]

Sounds like you'd enjoy Bleach and/or Soul Eater.
I tentatively recommend Naruto, also (although part 2 deserves the Fan Rage it gets).

If you enjoy Manga I'd recommend Mahou Sensei Negima. If not, avoid the Anime version with all the strength not looking at something takes. And if you absolutely must watch it, avoid the dub especially (oh, British accent... even **** Van Dyke hasn't perpetrated such crimes upon you).

[Bouregard]

One Piece. Pretty good. Goes a fine line between youngster and adult anime. Actually the last few hundred episodes are pretty much adult oriented. But I ask you to start from the beginning. Oh and don't take the 4kids dub. Its stupid. Look around to find some fansubbed japanese episodes. Trust me. you don't want to see the official english released anime.
While its poretty hard to get the japanese episodes its well worth and would keep you busy the next year. currently episode 480 if I guess right, everyone 20mins. If you liked Dragonball its definitly the way to go. Its practically the Dragonball without the not so good things about Dragonball.



Noir is also pretty awesome. Especially the charackters are pretty well made.
And Hellsing, but it differs a good bit from the manga. And in my opinion to short.

[Lord of Rapture]

Bleach and FMA are great. Be careful, though, as Bleach becomes "Dragonball Z with shinigami" later on in the series, though it's still pretty cool. Code Geass Season 1 is awesome; Season 2...*sobs*

Stay away from Naruto, though.

[KKL]

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Good anime that's pretty much all about giant robots and being incredibly awesome. Watch it once or twice for the arenaline rush of HELL YEAH.

Akagi: It's a great anime about the title character and his mahjong games against shady people. Very suspenseful and you don't need to know jack about Mahjong to enjoy it. I really, really recommend it. The bulk of the action is centered around the games of Mahjong, as opposed to kicking ass.

Kaiji: Depressing anime about a guy down on his luck, and by down, I mean completely, utterly down on his luck. Like I said earlier, the series is depressing, but is very mindtwisty with how it jerks you around and plays with your emotions. I love this anime a bit less than Akagi, but it's still very good.

Wolf and Spice: It's medieval economics focusing on a merchant and the wolf spirit he's managed to pick up along the way. Extremely laid back and slow. It's great fun having a protagonist who isn't a total shortbus nimrod. I thought it was interesting and fun to watch.

Kino no Tabi: Another sort of laid back story, this one focuses on the tales of a traveller named Kino who is a very good shot with a gun. Also has a talking motorcycle named Hermes.

One Piece: Someone's already mentioned it, but by god this is quite possibly the best shonen I've ever watched. It has great fight scenes, heart pulling scenes, and awesome characters. The art style is strange, but very excellent. There are no filler arcs at all, and when there are, they're masterfully inserted, Buggy sidestory aside.

Ouran High School Host Club: Fun anime about the main character's antics in a high class high school and it's lone Host Club. It's been too long since I've seen this, so I can't make additional comments, but it's a mix of drama and comedy, from what I remember.

Princess Tutu: Yes, Princess Tutu. That's the name, shut up. It's about a girl named Ahiru, transformation sequences, dancing, and a really twisted fairy tale. Very pleasent to watch.

Afro Samurai: I'm not going to mince words. This is a five episode anime and four out of those five episodes are bloody and violent. The story isn't too bad, but the focal points are the fight scenes. Fight scenes, fight scenes, fight scenes, by god the fight scenes are very well executed, and violent. Going against the automatic assumption of subtitles, I'm telling you to pick up the dub. The voices are fantastic.

Yakitate!! Japan: This anime is about baking bread. It's seriously good. I'm not kidding here. Watch it. It's great, it's funny.

Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Next to One Piece, this is THE shonen to watch. The dub is excellent. Go for it.

And I beleive that's it.

[ReluctantDragon]

Wow, awesome suggestions!

I do believe I've seen an episode of Samurai Champloo, and I do believe I liked it.

I'm hesitant about Bleach, though. I flipped through a book(comic book?) of it and it seemed...strange. I don't know. I just didn't get a good read off of it. Granted the anime could be different.

The robots and awesomeness of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann sounds extremely appealing.

I now have a Christmas wish list.

Thanks to everyone!

[Cespenar]

I would suggest Fullmetal Alchemist over Bleach. Definitely.

[The Evil Thing]

Let's see... series that haven't been mentioned...

Initial D
I recommend you give this a spin (oh I kill me) even if racing isn't your cup of tea since it's really rather well done. An added bonus is that much of the series was released before fansubbers became enamoured by the abominably low standards of translation that seem so prevalent these days. In other words, you won't need to watch the dub. (Which I don't recommend anyway, since they changed the (mostly English language) soundtrack for some reason.)

El Cazador de la Bruja
After the rather gloomy Noir and Madlax (made by the same studio), this show is much more light-hearted and thus more fun. There are no stormtroopers or faceless mooks* in this one, just a small cast of well defined characters, including perhaps the most charming character in anime ever.

*This is a slight lie but not really a problem.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
This is rather more cerebral than other series I've mentioned but in this case that's a good thing. You might like to take it as a police procedural. With robots and cyborgs. Regardless it's a very good show, just ignore Motoko's ridiculous wardrobe choices.

Last Exile
There's no shortage of people in the forum extolling LE's virtues. Personally I found the plot a little slow-paced but the art really is just that; it looks absolutely beautiful.

Slayers
A fantasy comedy unusual for the fact it's utterly blasé about killing people (at least for the first fifteen episodes or so). There's a bit of DBZing going on towards the end but it's bearable. On the flip side it has occasional very funny moments that catch you off guard.

The Twelve Kingdoms
Recap episodes ahoy! That said, it's very, very good once it finally gets going. It just takes while to do so. This is based on a novel series which I believe is in the well meaning but dodgy hands of Tokyopop.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
It's the result of watching a super robot show through a magical girl filter. The first season starts off in a typical magical girl fashion but soon brings out the big guns (literally) and we have gratuitous beam-spam'o'war all around.

Full Metal Panic
This is a mostly solid action series, although you may find the Sousuke-Gauron mutually assured destruction theme tiresome after Sousuke "kills" Gauron for the third time. If Sousuke's classroom antics irritate you, give Fumoffu a miss.

Shakugan no Shana
Unfortunately, I can't really sell SnS, I just don't know how; it's kind of like something you just watch for the hell of it. It's not bad or anything and it does the job of entertaining fairly well. It's is based on a light novel series but the licensors have thrown in the towel meaning that the anime is the best way to follow the story. Please avoid the movie which is literally a recap "episode."

Fate/stay night
The general rule is that you will love this show until you play the game it was based on, whereupon you see it as a contradiction to the natural order of the world and attack it as such. What the anime does have going for it is that you can clear it in perhaps 10-11 hours while the game takes about four or five times that. It's also much cheaper since you'll have to import the FSN game for ~$120.


If you liked RuroKen you might want to check out the Tsuiokuhen OVA.

Stay away from the Hellsing anime. If you must look, try Hellsing Ultimate instead.

On the manga front, I'll also throw my vote in for History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi (it's nothing like RuroKen though ) and Negima.

Unless I'm mistaken all of these shows are licensed so you shouldn't have too much trouble getting your paws on them.


Oh, and Haruki-kun, of the Hepburn, Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki romanisation systems, not one uses an e acute; a typist may elect to use a circumflex in place of a macron but only to substitute for a double vowel.
(By which you should interpret that typing "e" instead of ALT-130 in anime is not only convenient but correct. )

[Athaniar]

I'm far from an expert, either, but I liked Last Exile.

*looks at thread title*

Soo... How much are you willing to pay?
Just kidding, you can have it for free.

[Rogue 7]

I would suggest Fullmetal Alchemist over Bleach. Definitely.

Agreed. And for Fullmetal Alchemist, you simply must read the manga. I liked the anime quite a bit...the manga's ten times more awesome. Best one out there, I think.

[Bouregard]

One Piece: Someone's already mentioned it, but by god this is quite possibly the best shonen I've ever watched. It has great fight scenes, heart pulling scenes, and awesome characters. The art style is strange, but very excellent. There are no filler arcs at all, and when there are, they're masterfully inserted, Buggy sidestory aside.

There are filler arcs. But yes most of them are good inserted. There are some pretty weak one's in the beginning but the last two where pretty awesome.

Rainbow Mist, Warship island where pretty worse in my opinion.
While G9 and the Icehunterarc are awesome and as a filler sometimes rival the original story.

[Lost Demiurge]

Man, can't believe the thread's gotten this far without mentioning Black Lagoon... Since you liked Cowboy Bebop, I think this would be right up your alley.

Black Lagoon's a violent crime series set in the 90's, in the south china sea. It revolves around the pirate crew of a refurbrished PT boat, the Black Lagoon, and their efforts to make a buck and deal with the criminal underworld without losing their heads. The main setting is the fictional Thai city of Roanapur, in its glorious corruption. The main characters are very well thought out and develop as the series goes on, the supporting characters have their own deals and motivations, and damn near everyone's fun to watch.

It's hugely violent, but no more gory than Bebop. The language is pretty foul, so I wouldn't watch it with kids around. The fight scenes have some of the best choreography that I've ever seen in an anime, and damn near everyone gets a badass moment... Some more than others, mind you. And it's SMART. The way the syndicates operate, and a few little tricks they reveal come in handy for Shadowrun, or even Thieves' guild style games. They also manage to sneak some classical philosophy in on you here and there, without overdoing it.

One thing to watch out for, is that the series deals with some pretty heavy stuff... Drugs, assassinations, power plays between syndicates, and so forth. None of it's glorified, mind you, but it's still pretty mature. And there's a few plots down the road that get pretty freakin' dark.

Just check out the first disk. The first two episodes ought to tell you whether or not it's for you. After that, it only gets better...

[AslanCross]

Ouran High School Host Club: Fun anime about the main character's antics in a high class high school and it's lone Host Club. It's been too long since I've seen this, so I can't make additional comments, but it's a mix of drama and comedy, from what I remember.

Ouran was the funniest anime I've seen in a while. It's shoujo-but-not-quite. While it's a romantic comedy and it's about a girl more or less having a male harem, I still found it enormously entertaining as a straight guy.

[Oregano]

I'd recommend (Vision of) Escaflowne, it's just awesome.

You may also like Outlaw Star but it's a bit older target audience(there's violence and nudity).

[Kuma Da]

I'm a pretty picky anime viewer, but here's a quick list of what I consider to be the best stuff out there:

For psychology/complex plots: Paranoia agent, Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, Ghost hound

For action: Gantz (horribly, horribly bloody. consider yourself warned,) Ergo Proxy, Samurai Champloo (it's by the same director as Cowboy Beebop,) Black Lagoon, Fullmetal Alchemist, Tokyo Maijin Gakuen Kenpuchou (Tokyo high schoolers fighting demons. The writing is sub-par, but it's got a fantastic director,) Hellsing OVAs

For world-building: Last Exile

For adorableness: Noein, Haibane Renmei

For humor without being spazzed-out anime humor: Genshiken (it's also a really good window into Japanese otaku culture, which is different from American otaku culture...but that's a whole can of worms that I don't feel like opening right now,)

My favorite overall has got to be Last Exile or Noein, but based on the stuff you've said you liked, I would recommend Samurai Champloo the most.

Hope this helps.

Edit: if you're in the market for a manga recommendation, Blade of the Immortal is a beautifully drawn samurai epic. Dark Horse publishing assigned it a brilliant translation team too, so it's at least as witty as it is beautiful.

2nd edit: Totally forgot Gankutsuo, which is a serious contender for best anime art ever. It's a sci-fi retelling of "The Count of Monte Cristo".

[Edan]

Noir: It is about two female assassins for hire done in a style that resembles film noir. Not to mention the violence

Spoiler

Show

One of the girls manages to hang and snap a mook's neck with his own neck tie.

and interesting illuminati like organization and plot.

Spoiler

Show

Also it has a lot of lesbian subtext and...well more towards the end of the series.

It has a fairly cerebral plot with plenty of action without flowing into the absurdly over the top style of a lot of fighting anime.

I would recommend it if you were interested in a conspiracy based plot with plenty of action and one of the best soundtracks in the business. Although it is a mature series and it may not be for everyone.

[Setra]

I'm gonna second the following

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
It starts off somewhat average to me, but by the end it is probably one of the best series I have ever seen. Good characters, great action, the romance is sweet and doesn't feel forced (though I've heard some disagree), it has some great moments.

Bleach
I stopped watching the anime around the Bount Arc, but up until then it was a great action anime... If you like fighting then you'll probably love Bleach...

Mind you it might have started sucking after I stopped watching.

I haven't actually seen Kenichi, but I love the manga. If the anime is anything like it then I would certainly recommend it.

Ps. If you ever feel like watching an Anime that will make you cry, try "Air" (Not Air Gear). Guaranteed to make you cry... Unless you don't have a soul.

Edit: Oh, and has anyone mentioned Escaflowne yet?

Edit edit: Yes someone has.. Well yeah that one is pretty good too, same goes for Outlaw Star.

[Yulian]

You like action and larger casts?

Hmm...

Blue Submarine 6 is an action-packed, trippy one-shot OAV. Great villain too, surprisingly sympathetic.

If you want a series, try El Hazard for something lighter and more comedic. Escaflowne for something a bit less light but still fantastic, or for dark and nasty, try Soul Taker. That one's got some gloriously unsettling imagery.

Depending on your age, I could recommend a few hyper-violent, but still rather good ones, like Geonocyber (3 OAVs) or Bio-Booster Armor Guyver (that's the 2nd series).

- Yulian

[nothingclever]

I highly suggest watching the Fist of the North Star/Hokuto no Ken movie series Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu/True Saviour Legend. It has some of the most epic martial arts fighting and drama ever.

[UltraDude]

Shonen anime bent, though you like Akira as well which is a bit more mental (while still kicking ass).

Afro Samurai: Was mentioned already, and I can not stress enough how much this needs to be watched. Plot isn't important. It's all about the fight scenes, which make most shonen anime look like a couple of grannies trying to beat each other with the very wheelchairs they need to be mobile. Five episodes of bloody bliss, and the dub features SAMUEL L. JACKSON. AS THE MAIN CHARACTER.

Samurai Champloo: Action scenes are like toned down Afro Samurai for all intents and purposes. The overall plot is less important than how the story meanders through it, in an episodic nature much like Cowboy Bebop, with a wide range of attitude and emotion. I preferred it to Bebop actually, though results tend to vary (most prefer Bebop).

Gurren Lagann: You haven't seen any mecha yet it seems. This isn't a bad place to start, what with all the incredibly HELL YEAH action scenes, though a lot of the parody will go waaaay over your head if you haven't seen the super robot classics like Mazinger and Getter Robo. Still worth it for Kamina and manly drills.

Bleach: Action is pretty skimpy early on, and the pacing is a bit wonky. When it hits its stride, though, it's great, with loads of memorable characters and some incredible fight scenes. Try watching it in chunks of no less than 3 episodes at a time for best results (due to the pacing) and find out in advance where the filler arcs are so you can skip them entirely; the writing, animation, and action are terrible for the bulk of them.

Fullmetal Alchemist: This. A very balanced series; action, comedy, a little philosophy, tragedy, even a little romance. Lots of emotion involved, and the humor and action are both top notch. Once again, a nice sized cast of very interesting characters that you can easily be attached to.

Stuff that hasn't been mentioned.

G Gundam: First of all, not typical Gundam, so it doesn't really count as an intro to the series. However, it is an intro to some very super robot ideas, and doesn't require as much background as GL to 'get it'. A great deal of badass, with awesome action scenes and loads of hotblooded yelling. Also a very quirky sense of humor.

Fooly Cooly (FLCL): HOW HAS THIS NOT BEEN MENTIONED. You won't get even half the jokes because of how little you've watched, and unless the weirdness is too off-putting (it can be with inexperience with anime, I imagine), you'll still find it both funny and excellently badass. Guitars and Vespas make excellent weapons! Really!

And for something totally different...

Neon Genesis Evangelion: A polarizer among anime fans. Many praise it as the greatest of all time for its psychological themes and handling of its characters. Others think its just a jumbled up overrated mess. Regardless, its a classic that anyone does themselves a favor to at least give a try, and when the action is there, it can be pretty intense. Also generally considered mecha, though the 'mechs' are largely biological in nature.

So there are some ideas for you here.

[Artemician]

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
It starts off somewhat average to me, but by the end it is probably one of the best series I have ever seen. Good characters, great action, the romance is sweet and doesn't feel forced (though I've heard some disagree), it has some great moments.

Actually, TTGL was good. Then average. Then bad. Then really bad. Then good again. Then really bad. Then quite good for the last episode.

Get the idea? It's about as consistent as badly mixed concrete.

Bleach
I stopped watching the anime around the Bount Arc, but up until then it was a great action anime... If you like fighting then you'll probably love Bleach...

Mind you it might have started sucking after I stopped watching.

It did.

I would advise the OP to watch the Soul Society arc to its completion, then stop watching.

I haven't actually seen Kenichi, but I love the manga. If the anime is anything like it then I would certainly recommend it.

I found the manga pretty hilarious :P And not in a good way.

Ps. If you ever feel like watching an Anime that will make you cry, try "Air" (Not Air Gear). Guaranteed to make you cry... Unless you don't have a soul.

Air is, honestly, not super great. For something in the same vein, except done better, I'd advise OP to watch the 2006 run of Kanon.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
It's the result of watching a super robot show through a magical girl filter. The first season starts off in a typical magical girl fashion but soon brings out the big guns (literally) and we have gratuitous beam-spam'o'war all around.

Season One of Nanoha is .... The plot's fine, the characters are good, but the lines, oh the lines. And the pacing! It does get better in the following seasons though, which is something that puts it over some anime (coughShakuganNoShanacough)

Full Metal Panic
This is a mostly solid action series, although you may find the Sousuke-Gauron mutually assured destruction theme tiresome after Sousuke "kills" Gauron for the third time. If Sousuke's classroom antics irritate you, give Fumoffu a miss.

Agreed.

Unfortunately, I can't really sell SnS, I just don't know how; it's kind of like something you just watch for the hell of it. It's not bad or anything and it does the job of entertaining fairly well. It's is based on a light novel series but the licensors have thrown in the towel meaning that the anime is the best way to follow the story. Please avoid the movie which is literally a recap "episode."

The movie had better animation. And did more into telling us how awesome Friagne was. Shame that none of the following villians, or the entire subsequent sequel season, approached his awesome manliness. At all. It starts off at the top, and you only go downhill from there.

Fate/stay night
The general rule is that you will love this show until you play the game it was based on, whereupon you see it as a contradiction to the natural order of the world and attack it as such. What the anime does have going for it is that you can clear it in perhaps 10-11 hours while the game takes about four or five times that. It's also much cheaper since you'll have to import the FSN game for ~$120.

I watched the show, and went bleh at important moments (like the ending, or in fact, the entire last 8 episodes. What, you lost the budget? And your director's brains?) Then I read the VN, and gave up in disgust halfway through due to the sheer stupidity of the main character, which was slightly less obnoxious in a passive medium but horribly infuriating in an active one.

[Innis Cabal]

Mushi-shi

Easily one of the most visually stunning anime out there. Tackles alot of society related issues in a very deep and methodical way.

Awsome pacing, though no over arching storyline.

Did I mention the animation. The animation is beautifuly rendered, well done and will take your breath away. In that order. The Sea of Brush's was....the best animated episode of any anime i've ever seen

[Blue Warlock]

Others here have already mentioned more popular series (BTW WATCH AFRO SAMURAI IT HAS SAMUEL MOTHERF*CKING JACKSON IN IT) so allow me to introduce a more obscure title: Seto No Hanayome. Crazy, all the time. Involves YAKUZA mermaids and a shotgun wedding start off the series, and the ending is OMGWTFBBQAWESOMESAUCE. The final battle involves a made-of-iron mermaid yakuza guy in a sailor outfit SHOOTING LAZERZ OUT OF HIS EYES. And he is just one of the side characters.
Its like 24 episodes of a power thirst commercial for the action scenes, and they toss in a small amount of romance too (shotgun wedding). Great Comedy/Action/Romance mix (listed in order of importance). Watch. Now.

[Friv]

Here's one that hasn't been suggested - Read Or Die, both the OVA and the general TV series. (Unlike most anime, they aren't the same story; the series is a sequel to the OVA).

The OVA is about the British Library's super-powered secret agents, who are going toe-to-toe with genetically engineered clones of various historical geniuses granted superpowers. It actually gets pretty serious at times, despite an overall slightly goofy tone.

The TV series starts as a light-hearted romp about a friend of the main character from the OVA, plus a trio of batty magic detectives, and then shifts into a truly awesome epic story.

[Berserk Monk]

Full Metal Alchemist: best anime ever. 'nough said.

You should also check out Trigun.

Gurren Lagann is also pretty good, although I've only seen about half the episodes.