Recommend Me Some Anime Dammit

[NeoGoomba]

So, I'm a few episodes into Gundam SEED and digging it as a whole (I like the whole pacifism vs. duty thing going on so far, and the friend vs friend FOG OF WAR), and it is making me want to broaden my horizons a bit, anime-wise. Anyone got any other similar series recommendations to share? How about other Gundam stuffs? Like, my only real Gundam experience was the Wing stuff Cartoon Network used to air, so I could use some input on what to try next. I remember briefly perusing Vympel's big ass Galactic Heroes thread, and while it has some cool pew pew, does the actual characters and writing in that show warrant a watch?

Before this my big "exposures" included Street Fighter II V, Ninja Scroll, and other 90's stuff. I need to update.

[willyvereb]

Legend of Galactic Heroes is pretty decent so I definitely recommend it to you.
Albeit that series is more than a hundred episodes long.

As for Gundam, I would absolutely recommend you the original Mobile Suit Gundam.
It's old (made in 1979) and it shows in certain aspects.
But it definitely worth a watch regardless.
Most of Gundam SEED's plot is actually a watered down version of the original series.

[OmegaChief]

If we're talking Gundams, the UC Timeline series (Insert huge list of them here) are decent if looking rather dated, which can be an issue for some people, I'd also recommend watching the Mobile Suit Gundam recap movies over the actual show itself, same stuff is gone over a lot of the animation was improved certain things are taken out that improve things (In my opinion anyway). Though be warned as the shows progress they do get rather more incrementally dark and depressing.

Outside the UC timeline I can recommend 00 as a very good show (It's sort of like to Wing what SEED is to the original MSG, similar initial set up and story [A series of massively more powerful then anything to date Mobile Suits show up and do things, people try to end war!], only more up to date and with a few changes and alternate takes on things [Such as the world having three competing super power blocs] that goes it's own way far more quickly then SEED), and advise that you stay away from SEED Destiny. If you're looking for something more ridiculous, hilarious and slightly cheesy (And actually predating Wing here, so it's not a new anime, but then neither is the original MSG ) G Gundam is worth a watch, it is totally not as serious or RAWR HARD SCI FI as pretty much anything else related to Gundam, but it can be a hilariously fun ride.

Moving out of Gundam territory for now, LotGH as mentioned can be a quite fun watch and seems to be appealing to your tastes, but as also mentioned there is a metric ton of it, so you could be watching it for years . It has some fun characters, and some reasonably deep explorations of some of them, but the sheer size of the cast and the scale at which it wants to tell the story means this can sometimes suffer from broad strokes syndrome, but if you're a fan of watching how various peoples schemes and political plays pan out and interact with each other that makes up for it.

Stepping away from Mechs and Spaceships for a second, and this might seem like an odd recommendation, but Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Also found under the Japanese title Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika) is worth a watch. Yes, it's sparkly magical girls, but it's only twelve episodes long and in that time manages some wonderful and well fleshed out characterisation and exploration of it's themes (What in the world would you do with one wish for anything you wanted? And what kind of effect would having these magical powers and having to fight monsters all the time have on these girls?) in a nice tight story with a compelling mystery with more twists then you'd expect given the short length of the show.

That's an initial buckshot of anime recommendations for you, doubtless others will throw out their own suggestions!

[NeoGoomba]

As a addendum, I watched Haibane Renmei and found myself strangely intrigued by it. It had enough interesting hooks that go unanswered to have really stuck with me. So yeah, it doesn't all have to be LAZERZ and blood or kung fu combats.

[Stark]

So, I'm a few episodes into Gundam SEED and digging it as a whole (I like the whole pacifism vs. duty thing going on so far, and the friend vs friend FOG OF WAR), and it is making me want to broaden my horizons a bit, anime-wise. Anyone got any other similar series recommendations to share? How about other Gundam stuffs? Like, my only real Gundam experience was the Wing stuff Cartoon Network used to air, so I could use some input on what to try next. I remember briefly perusing Vympel's big ass Galactic Heroes thread, and while it has some cool pew pew, does the actual characters and writing in that show warrant a watch?

Before this my big "exposures" included Street Fighter II V, Ninja Scroll, and other 90's stuff. I need to update.

I tried to start watching SEED, but since it is really, really similar to 'remake UC again' I couldn't maintain my interest. If you like those themes, they're in pretty much every Gundam story, and I've never seen one that you really need the background to understand (I started at the end of UC, for instance). Omegachief is right to recommend 00 because it's good (its my wife's favourite) but I found the second season to fall into 'rehash UC again' territory and I think it has a very, very weak ending. The first season and how it deals with intelligent enemies facing assymetrical battle is great, though.

Don't feel a requirement to watch the old 79 show or the remake movies to watch Gundam; if you know there was a catclysmic war between Earth and the space colonies that killed half the human race in a week, you probably know enough. I watched the MSG movies last and didn't find them very interesting at all.

LOGH is good (although Vympel is a monomaniac who makes it look really boring) but it didn't hit the same personal emotional notes as other shows did for me.

If you're not just into pew pews, there are shows like Girls und PANZER and Highschool of the Dead that are surprisingly good, considering their eye-rolling premises. I like a bit of slice of life stuff like that Hataraku Maou-sama show thats on, about some a final fantasy villain living in Tokyo as a poor person, that is seriously laugh-out-loud funny.

[Connor MacLeod]

LOGH is good (although Vympel is a monomaniac who makes it look really boring) but it didn't hit the same personal emotional notes as other shows did for me.

Hey I wasn't bored in that thread

[SAMAS]

A few notes and suggestions... On second thought, I'll let the intros speak for themselves!


Dog Days is a series about a young boy who gets trapped in a fantasy world where he finds himself forced to fight alongside a race of dog people in a war against a catlike race. Note that this is a very lighthearted series, and gets downright cute at times (Wars in this world are completely non-lethal, as it turns out). Has a second season which is also good, but is a little lighter on combat and heavier on fanservice and nudity gags (Fansubs).


Space Battleship Yamato 2199 is a remake of the classic seventies series that was brought to the US under the name "Star Blazers" (Currently fansubbed, but a liscene is apparently incoming).


The King of Braves Gao Gai Gar is a classic Hot-blooded Super Robot series by the same guys who made the Generation 1 Transformers cartoon (hell, several of the secondary characters could pass for Autobots). The first half is a standard Monster-of-the-Week formula with an added dose of awesome, but the story really kicks in in the second half (full-season DVD)


Last Exile is a Steam-/Dieselpunk-ish story featuring a lost treasure and airship combat.

[Purple]

Neon Genesis Evangelion. Watch it, love it, enjoy it. Bend over in a corner of your room and suck on your thumb whilst in the fetal position. Return to the internet to post about it.

[Vendetta]

The King of Braves Gao Gai Gar is a classic Hot-blooded Super Robot series by the same guys who made the Generation 1 Transformers cartoon (hell, several of the secondary characters could pass for Autobots). The first half is a standard Monster-of-the-Week formula with an added dose of awesome, but the story really kicks in in the second half (full-season DVD)

Half of the secondary characters are Autobots. Some of the GaoGaiGar and other Brave series designs were recycled into Transformers toys.

(Also, it's by the people who made the G1 toys in Japan, Takara, not the cartoon, which was animated by Toei not Sunrise. The whole Braves series is what Takara did to sell toys because Japan didn't bother with G2 or Beast Wars)

Also, the first half of the series is pretty rubbish toy commercial of the week nonsense, it doesn't turn into silly super robot shouting with an actual plot for a good 25 episodes. And even then it's still blatantly a 25 minute toy commercial, if enjoyable on its own terms.

[SAMAS]

Eva is an influential, but polarizing series. Gao Gai Gar actually makes a good counterpoint to it.

More series:


Heroic Age is best described as a cross between Gundam, Legend of Galactic Heroes, Godzilla, and Dragon Ball Z. Humanity is being hunted by a race of Space Elves and their Bug minions. Their only hope is a young human boy who happens to carry one of the five surviving members of the Heroic Tribe (a race of Kaiju-sized super-warriors) within him. Unfortunately, the Space Elves have the other four under their control. Available on DVD.


Gunbuster is a classic series about a girl named Noriko Takaya and her rise in the midst of a war against a race of giant alien monsters.


Full Metal Panic is two series' in one. One is a Rumiko Takahashi-esque romantic comedy, while the other is a cross between G.I. Joe and Gundam (more like Patlabor, but I'm going for a reference you know): Sosuke Sagara is a member of Mithril, a daring highly-trained Special Missions force that is assigned to protect Kaname Chidori, a young woman who may be part of a number of people who are mysteriously privy to ultra-high technology. Sosuke is sent undercover to her school along with his squad. Unfortunately, War and combat is the only thing Sosuke has known all his short life.

FMP comes in three series'. The first series is a pretty straight adaptation of the original Light Novel. The second series, Fumoffu, focuses primarily on the comedy aspect of Sosuke trying to fit in at Kaname's school, while The Second Raid is a follow-up to the first with a total focus on the mecha/Special Forces action and ruthless terrorist organizations determined to rule the world. All can be bought on DVD or seen on Youtube.


Zone of the Enders: IDOLO and Dolores, i are a prequel/sidestory to Hideo Kojima's lesser-known videogame series (the one that doesn't involve cardboard boxes) released on PS2 (recently re-released on PS3) with a GBA spinoff. IDOLO is a prequel focusing on one of the antagonists of the first ZOE, while Dolores, i follows up on that with a Space trucker named James Links who receives a powerful Orbital Frame from his estranged wife, a scientist who was missing and presumed dead after the events of IDOLO. Taking the Orbital Frame (who has a very cute personality for a heavily-armed combat mecha) with him, he gathers his equally-estranged adult children and sets out to reunite his family.

[Stark]

If you like fatnerd jokes, zombies, and tits how can you say no to High School of the Dead? It even (alarmingly) has a powerful theme around responsibility and morality that much zombie fiction ignores in favour of tired 'rugged individualist' nonsense.

[NeoGoomba]

I've actually watched both the original Eva series and the new remake films. I'm usually branded a heretic by my stance of finding the originals so-so and enjoying the remake a bit more.

A buddy of mine swears by Full Metal Alchemist also, but since I mistrust his taste I am wary of it.

I'll try and nail down Gundam 00 soon, and both Last Exile and Hataraku Maou-sama sounds interesting too. Fun fact, randomly found my battered VHS copies of Vampire Hunter D and Fatal Fury The Motion Picture today. Everything's coming up Millhouse!

[Jub]

A few good older shows haven't really been mentioned yet so I figure I'll add them to the list.

Cowboy Bebop:

A great show about space bounty hunters that features fluid fight scenes and great music. There are multiple reasons that it's rated as one of the better anime series of all time.

Trigun:

A show with a quirky cast, a unique art style, and an ending that is well worth the watch.

Black Lagoon:

Not really an older show, but one that I rather liked. It's a show about a group of mercenaries that ride around on a torpedo boat. It's a more mature show than the other two and has lots of cursing in it.

[lance]

So, I'm a few episodes into Gundam SEED and digging it as a whole (I like the whole pacifism vs. duty thing going on so far, and the friend vs friend FOG OF WAR),

Going by this I would recommend Code Geass

[Stark]

Is it wrong I liked the highschool hijinx plots in Code Geass more than the actual plot about the moral quandaries of insurrection?

GET THAT CAT AND ITS SILLY HAT IMMEDIATELY etc etc.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

A buddy of mine swears by Full Metal Alchemist also, but since I mistrust his taste I am wary of it.

Which one, the original series or Brotherhood?

I'll also second Stark's recommendation of Girls und Panzer. Yes, it's got a daft premise (tank combat as a woman's sport), but at its heart, it's a tale of overcoming hardship through camaraderie, tactics, and good old-fashioned firepower. If you like tanks, World War II, and pew pews in general, how can you say no?

[Parallax]

I'll second Space Battleship Yamato 2199. Eps 1-14 are out now and I'm impatient for new ones to be released, dammit!

I'd also suggest select parts of the Super Dimension Fortress Macross series.
The original series looks dated as all hell but some of the later ones such as Macross Plus, Macross Zero, and Macross Frontier are actually pretty good.
Avoid Macross 7 like the fucking plague.

[Parallax]

Forgot the damn videos.

Macross Plus: Set on the colony world Eden, two test pilots compete against each other to see which of their planes makes it in military use. The mecha competition is mirrored by a tussle for a woman's affections and there's a insane evil holographic interplanetary idol bitch plot thrown in as well.


Macross Zero: A bit of a retcon, set in the days before the original Macross series. Beautifully animated stuff and reveals some stuff about the past of the Macross Universe.


Macross Frontier: Set on one of Earth's colony fleets, the fleet runs into bad aliens they have to blow the crap out of.

[Grumman]

I'll half-heartedly recommend Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It's got some gloriously over the top hot-blooded shonen scenes* but it's also got typically abysmal shonen comedy. The second half is a lot better than the first in this regard, and the spoiler-y scenes are better than the filler, both of which make it hard to talk about.

*Spoiler

at one point the protagonist invents teleportation specifically so he could punch someone in the face

I'll also second the recommendation of Black Lagoon. It comes a lot closer to being consistently good than most anime I've seen.

[Crossroads Inc.]

I'll half-heartedly recommend Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It's got some gloriously over the top hot-blooded shonen scenes* but it's also got typically abysmal shonen comedy. The second half is a lot better than the first in this regard, and the spoiler-y scenes are better than the filler, both of which make it hard to talk about.

TTGL Is a great anime for those that either LOVE over the top cornball, OR people who have already watched a lot of Giant Robot Anime since much of the whole show spoofs the various Giant Robot tropes in most other Anime.

I would say there isn't THAT much bad shonen in it, and the first part is really needed to set up the second half in terms of character development and various hints at the final badguy.

As for my OWN recommendation...
I will nominate "Last Exile" as a good and concise anime.
It has good and decent characters and character growth. I decent and believable plot, it does a wonderful job of tying together several interweaving plot lines, and has an ending that makes you go "OF course! It all makes sense!" Which is something I LOVE in a good anime.

[TOSDOC]

I'd second Space Battleship Yamato, and also Gall Force if you can find it--the Paranoids always gave me the creeps. I wish they'd put Neon Genesis Evangelion up on Netflix already so I could give it a go.

[Connor MacLeod]

Alot of these I'd heard of before and sort casually earmarked in some lost file as 'stuff to watch when I get around to it.'

I may have to make a note of a few of these for future reference.

Also as far as Evangelion goes.. its a polarizing series as SAMAS says.. but its really something a person has to watch and decide whether they like it on their own. It really is less about the 'giant robot' side of things than it is about the people and characters, and that makes it very much psychology and emotion.. and much of it is very much 'point of view' style of subjective. That's what makes it so polarizing because you either like it for its psychological stuff (esp the mindfucks) or you don't and much of it will depend on your own perspective on things. But its also why telling someone its good/bad can be misleading, I think, because it works on that personal/subjective level. I never cared for the series (and even now I have mixed feelings about it) but I know people who love it.

[JME2]

I'm going to recommend something a wee bit different: Le Chevalier D'Eon.

This one's historical fiction and focuses on D'Eon de Beaumont, who was a spy in service to Louis XV during the twilight years of Royalist France. After his sister's body is found floating down the Seine, D'Eon uses his position as a member of the French Secret Police to get himself assigned to her murder investigation. But he quickly learns that Lia's death is just the tip of the iceberg and that it's linked to a conspiracy that threatens all of Europe.

It's a very tightly plotted murder mystery melded with historical fiction and the conspiracy/political thriller genre. If 18th Century European history is an interest of yours, you'll love it as much as I did. If you're not, it's still a great, serialized whodunnit (absolutely no filler).

[Skywalker_T-65]

A bit late to the party, but I personally would recommend Gundam X. Not a standard Gundam series by any means (I think the closest in setting is Turn A and even that is different). Plus it avoids the Gundam trope of having the main pilot be special in some way...makes a point of showing how Garrod is a bog-standard human actually.

Never dubbed and ended before the typical 50-episode run though.

[Jadeite]

I'm surprised no ones mentioned Crest of the Stars and its sequel series Banner of the Stars (and BotS II and III). Similar to LOGH but more emotional, character focused, and shorter. Oh, and watch it subtitled, the dubbed voices are shit.