Where can I find better anime?

[General Zod]

I've never seen either one, so I don't have a basis for comparison. But imagine if they started making a TV show about Charlie Sheen's life after he left network TV, but throw in talking animals that live alongside humans and lots of surrealism.

That's sounds pretty hilarious. For just an example of how far just Life's Too Short is willing to go: Here's a scene where Helana Carter is so disgusted working with Davis (because he's a little person): they humour her by putting Davis in a trashcan with a smiley face drawn on it.

The British do have some odd humor.

I mean they don't write it out to be "haha sitcom" funny, but more like "that's really fucked up but I can't stop laughing" kinda funny.

[TheFeniX]

There's a lot about British "everything" I find appealing, though the comedy can get incredibly dry at times. And that's not even really my problem. It's that it will drag on way too long after I got the point: joke was made, move on. But, they rarely take the time to pull punches and I respect that. Even Dr. Who is just grim at times. While low on gore or over-the-top violence, the body count has to be enormous.

So, I gave Wakfu a shot. Jury is still out. If I were 8-14, I'd probably love it. It's a pretty standard fantasy affair: kid is special, kid meet up with randos meeting specific fantasy archetypes, randos decide to stick around for "reasons," and the main quest gets put on hold constantly for side-quests. Some of the dubbing is terrible, most is passable, some is pretty good. Animation is solid. Flash has come a long way since "Stick Death."

Edit: One more thing, the fight scene Wakfu opens with in the first 5 minutes is just.... a really good way to start things out.

[Q99]

Blue Exorcist is pretty good. Better than Seven Deadly Sins to be sure- though it lacks a proper end and is still a young-adult show, it's not a bad representation of the genre. And it's on Netflixs, so that's easy.

Oh, and My Hero Academia. It's my favorite supers series right now. 80% of the world has superpowers (most quite minor). Kid wants to be a hero like his favorite hero, All Might (Superman/Captain America in status as the number one hero, the "Symbol of Peace"). Only to discover he has *no* powers whatsoever... til he meets All-Might who, it turns out, is capable of passing on his power. Most of the show takes place in a hero school, where he has girl classmates he can actually, gasp, talk to (well, he's nervous at first, but they're treated as real characters. There is one male perv who's the worst part of the show, but even he never gets Seven Deadly Sins bad, and the heroines are treated just as heroines and part of the class, Uraraka is great fun with her gravity power). One season done so far. I think Crunchyroll has it.


Now, those are the two young adult series.

For one that's way on the heavier end, Attack on Titan (which should be read as 'advancing titans' or similar, translation was wonky). Humanity lives within a large area of land closed off behind 3 walls in rings, surrounded by Titans, beings that range from 4 to 15 meters tall, who ate the rest of humanity. But the walls have been unbreached for a hundred years, so the only people who see them are the Survey Corps, a nigh-suicidal group who ventures outside.

Til a 60 meter Titan appears and kicks down the gate to the third wall.

People get eaten and it gets pretty dark, but it's not just a misery fest either, it has it's share of great moments. And it's themesong goes with everything!

[TheFeniX]

Blue Exorcist is pretty good. Better than Seven Deadly Sins to be sure- though it lacks a proper end and is still a young-adult show, it's not a bad representation of the genre. And it's on Netflixs, so that's easy.

Might give it a go. I wish I could get my wife to go to fucking bed when she's tired. Instead, she falls asleep in front of the TV then pulls the "I was watching that" bullshit when I grab the remote.

For one that's way on the heavier end, Attack on Titan (which should be read as 'advancing titans' or similar, translation was wonky). Humanity lives within a large area of land closed off behind 3 walls in rings, surrounded by Titans, beings that range from 4 to 15 meters tall, who ate the rest of humanity. But the walls have been unbreached for a hundred years, so the only people who see them are the Survey Corps, a nigh-suicidal group who ventures outside.

Titan, for some reason, couldn't grab me. I'm adverse to it just because of the imagery since my 1-year-old watches with me, but even alone it's doesn't appeal to me. Possibly related that I've seen the Abridged version of the first few episodes.

Moving on: Wakfu is pretty solid. The kid likes it because the theme song (he dances) and the animation seems to grab his attention. I love it for numerous reasons, mainly Percidal. The idea of a simple race/character concept of "hit something, if that doesn't work: hit it more until it does" is hilarious and I find it works for this show. But also that the show calls back to early episodes (usually) subltey enough that it's worth a laugh, but you don't lose much if you miss it.

Some of the fanservice is hilarious. When General McWhoever shows up in the second season, my wife had to stop and says "God damn" because her boobs swaying back and forth was ridiculous. I had to make the comment "all this advanced technology and no one can invent a sports bra." She responded with: "the prince has nothing but women on the bridge of his ship, bras are probably outlawed." HA!

[SolarpunkFan]

I haven't watched many of them, but most of the Gundam series might fit the bill.

I'm familiar with Gundam Wing (*braces for incoming flames*) which didn't really have fanservice as far as I remember.

Gundam 00 is more recent, but I don't know if a "dude looks like a lady" character is considered fanservice in your book. And I mean that, this is a guy

[TheFeniX]

I haven't watched many of them, but most of the Gundam series might fit the bill.

I'm familiar with Gundam Wing (*braces for incoming flames*) which didn't really have fanservice as far as I remember.

Gundam 00 is more recent, but I don't know if a "dude looks like a lady" character is considered fanservice in your book. And I mean that, this is a guy

None of that would bother me. One Punch Man has like 3 male "heroes" that you would instantly peg for women if not for the voice actor. That said, I tried giving one of the Gundam series a run back in the mid-2000s but I recall being bored fairly quickly and only making it a few episodes. Could have been being "Not Macross" was the turn off. I could give one of the newer shows a go.

Like I said, not adverse to fanservice (though the definition does get a bit broad). For just an example, in an episode of One Punch Man, during a monster attack there's this large-breasted blonde in a bikini holding a surfboard shown out of pretty much nowhere in a show where there aren't many women to begin with and they are nearly all dressed "modestly" (more like: dressed normally) with one exception of an S-Ranked heroine whose depiction is much more fanservicy than the comic. Still, not a big deal since "sex" doesn't seem part of her character at all.

For a mecha example: In the books, Battletech pilots are described as usually wearing very little while piloting due to the normal amounts of heat build-up. There was one author who seemed to linger on the physical description of a female protagonist longer than he would a male. But it wasn't like she was worrying about her boobs swaying around in combat where death is a very real outcome.

Like I've talked about, where I get really annoyed is when the entire show stops dead in it's tracks to be like "Here's what you perverts want!" One Punch Man got somewhere near this with the Mosquito Monster. Gave me kind of a "why boner," but it's over in like 3 seconds so I'm not crying about it. But just showing a hot woman (or guy) isn't really what pushes me over that edge. It's when it's combined with WTFBBQ levels of perverted shit used for laughs.

Speaking of One Punch Man: it is ridiculously good so I fully get the hype now. Just his training session with his disciple (I guess dodging spoilers) was some of the best all-around "everything" I've seen in quite a while. Especially the ending. I'm more than a little annoyed they just started work on season 2. I have been giving the webcomic a go and trying to find the Manga. I honestly can't get over how good this show is on all-fronts: action, story, comedy. You'd think it could get boring considering the protag, but the emphasis on other heroes is well done.

I tried out one (half) an episode of Kill La Kill on the recommendation of a buddy. I have to stab him now. I've got more than a few others in my Netflix queue (such as Fairy Tale and Blue Exorcist). It also seems Ankama is working on a new season of Wakfu.

[Q99]

Gundam's got a lot of variety. From serious war story (most mainline shows, often about earth vs space colonists), to a more operatic/larger than life take with pretty boys (Wing), to Hot Blooded Martial Arts in Robots (G Gundam)! War in the Pocket is a nice short story in the about a kid in a neutral space colony near the end of the war in the main UC timeline, it's touching and a quick watch. One of the more interesting side universes is Turn A Gundam, which is a very interesting post-apocalypse one (Not, like, immediately post apocalypse. Nanites wiped out most tech some time ago, and now in the modern people are digging up old robots that survived due to being underground and using them).


There's even a spinoff called Build Fighters which is about kids playing with a game based on Gundam models in basically the real world. It's the most toy-based thing ever and that may sound horrible but it's actually, like, somehow really really fun with fantastic fights. Though it benefits a lot from familiarity with Gundam (not in a way that's needed to the plot, just there's little shout-outs and call backs everywhere. Fans sometimes call it 'Gundam Valhalla' because of all the characters who died tragically in the various other universes seen walking around).

Though most are only available on Netflix via DVD rather than streaming, Build Fighters is free on Youtube by the owners.


---

Another good SF show that is on Netflix streaming is Knights of Sidonia. It's a bit 'attack on titan' in space, though the imagery isn't quite as rough (we don't see people getting eaten, though biological-esque stuff does absorb people), about a colony generation ship, Sidonia, fending off space monsters, Gauna, who're incredibly dangerous and who destroyed the Earth centuries ago and, it is believed, most if not all of the other colony ships sent out (the last contact lost was simply due to distance, but Gauna are spread throughout the universe so who knows?). It's got a heavy transhumanist bent (the crew's entirely genetically engineered, sometimes in different ways with photosynthezing being an example of an advantage that everyone but the main character has. There's some cyborgs. There's a bear.), and admittedly some fanservice, though mostly at appropriate times (when there's off-duty hijinks, not stopping serious stuff to indulge in it).

[Sgt_Artyom]

"Lupin the Third: The Italian Adventure" was probably my favourite watch of the last year or so. Damn fine art style and decent story that has a good mix of seriousness and humour. It's Lupin, so it's pretty much been a staple of anime since the late 60's/early 70's.

"Gintama" is always great if you're looking for some comedy, though they do tend to swap over to a more serious ark now and again and handle the swap pretty well. It's a longer series though (I'm currently on episode 328 and they're still coming out), if you like those or don't.

"ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept." was a stumble upon show for me and I was quite pleasantly surprised. Story is a little more on the dry side, but still a rather interesting tale of political intrigue with some good art and voice acting.

"Saga of Tanya the Evil": Was another surprise series for me. Not a huge fan of how the character came to be so young but I really do enjoy the setting and the more reserved form of magic we see mixed into the WW1 setting. Show looks good, main character is fairly interesting (If still a horrible person) and the art style is pretty good (Some people don't like the work on faces as much but it didn't bother me in the slightest).

Didn't see if you had one or not, but I'd highly recommend getting a Crunchyroll account if you watch enough anime. It's pretty much an anime only Netflix and they're always getting new shows on there (They stream new shows as they're being show on TV in Japan). All the shows I mentioned above are on there and it's fairly cheap (Costs me about $6.50 CAD a month).

[TheFeniX]

Another good SF show that is on Netflix streaming is Knights of Sidonia.

Interestingly, my Brother-in-law brought this show up yesterday. I figured I need to give it a go. He also said Kill la Kill gets better, but I dunno man. I'm trying to save the "good stuff" for when my wife is not watching... the other stuff she watches. So, I've been cruising around trying out whatever else has not been recommended here and elsewhere.

She's just. So damn weird. While watching Bleach: "This show looks dumb."
"Then don't fucking watch it."
::a day passes::
"You're watching an episode without me!?"

I have to run this mental list of what I'm allowed to watch without her and it's a hard list to keep up with. If we didn't have a kid now, I would totally find some weird-ass Hentai (redundant, I know) and put it on just to screw with her. I just want to watch some cartoons in peace woman!

Didn't see if you had one or not, but I'd highly recommend getting a Crunchyroll account if you watch enough anime. It's pretty much an anime only Netflix and they're always getting new shows on there (They stream new shows as they're being show on TV in Japan). All the shows I mentioned above are on there and it's fairly cheap (Costs me about $6.50 CAD a month).

I'm honestly considering it at this point. My wife and niece are marathoning the goddamn Vampire Diaries in the living room and it's killing me inside, so I've been locking myself in my office and watching anything else.

I have finally sat down and started watching Bleach. It was one of those shows that people were talking about but that was right during my timeframe of "anime sucks now" so I gave it a pass, as I did for all anime at the time. Honestly, it's fairly solid. Could be better, could be a lot worse. But at least the English dub is passable, though I'm annoyed that with subtitles off, they don't translate the Japanese that scrolls across the screen. And it's a bit long on exposition and "do ho ho, you caught me monologuing you sly dog."

Oh well, can't have everything.

So... Gurran Lagan. I heard of this a few years back but I've just now given a few episodes a shot..... I'm at a loss. Do I double-down on my assertion that this kind of fanservice is bad or do I instantly fall in love with a busty red-head in a bikini and hot pants cornholing mecha with a .50 cal sniper-rifle while her boobs jiggle endlessly?

My wife (and some old girlfriends) have shot guns with me. And when they pull the trigger, pretty much everything jiggles. And it's hot.

So, I'm at a cross-roads here because God damn it! I am still a man. But I'm still not sold on the rest of the story. At least the animation is passable.

[General Zod]

Fair warning, Bleach has a lot of filler episodes that don't actually contribute anything important to the main story. We're talking whole seasons of filler.

[TheFeniX]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep it in mind while watching. I can put up with quite a lot in that area TBH. I slogged through way more filler than I realistically should have with Inuyasha because I at least felt the show could be good when it wanted to be. Then again, I was single and bored a lot back then but I still couldn't make it through the whole thing. Jesus, did that show ever even end? It always seemed like Japanese Simpsons in that area.

But I survived living with a huge DBZ fan for over a year and that show had the absolute worst filler ever. Literal filler: "Just give them 22 minutes of powering up dialog and screaming."

[General Zod]

Eventually Bleach gets to the point but the show had to play catch up with the manga releases. It's not quite Dbz level bad.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Word of warning for Bleach's ending: It sort of got canceled to make room for a Naruto spin-off before the manga ended, so it just sort of... ends.

Just give the filler arcs a skip and you'll do fine, though.

[SolarpunkFan]

I tried giving one of the Gundam series a run back in the mid-2000s but I recall being bored fairly quickly and only making it a few episodes. Could have been being "Not Macross" was the turn off.

It might have been the original Gundam series (also known as Gundam 0079). It was so slow that I couldn't watch past three or four episodes.

Gundam Wing does have quite a bit of action in it, watch the first ~11 minutes or so and see if you like it: http://www.crunchyroll.com/mobile-suit- ... saw-732803

Of course that one is in Japanese, the English dub is a bit spotty. Also I don't know if the series is on Hulu or Netflix, so actually seeing it might be a problem. Although you could just be like me and buy the DVDs.

Though I guess I'm also biased as I like the soundtrack too.

[General Zod]

I tried giving one of the Gundam series a run back in the mid-2000s but I recall being bored fairly quickly and only making it a few episodes. Could have been being "Not Macross" was the turn off.

It might have been the original Gundam series (also known as Gundam 0079). It was so slow that I couldn't watch past three or four episodes.

Gundam Wing does have quite a bit of action in it, watch the first ~11 minutes or so and see if you like it: http://www.crunchyroll.com/mobile-suit- ... saw-732803

Of course that one is in Japanese, the English dub is a bit spotty. Also I don't know if the series is on Hulu or Netflix, so actually seeing it might be a problem. Although you could just be like me and buy the DVDs.

Though I guess I'm also biased as I like the soundtrack too.

G Gundam is a fun series if you want something with more fighty pew pews and no politics.

[Sgt_Artyom]

I've really liked the Gundam Iron Blooded orphans as well. Never was a big Gundam fan but it seems to have the mix of action to everything else just about right. It's not entirely over the top in it's mecha designs either.

Decent mecha show to check out if you're into it would be Full Metal Panic. Interesting premise and it's a fairly well grounded as far as a mecha anime can go. That and the fumofuu bonus comedy season is hilarious.

Patlabour is another well grounded (Trying to lean more towards a realistic implementation) mecha series as well. It's an older one but it pretty much considered a staple of mecha anime and one of the best.

[TheFeniX]

Man, you guys are making me want to watch through Big-O again. I would also kill for a Battletech anime. I can't remember a single damn thing from the cartoon it's been so long. I should try and find that.

Eventually Bleach gets to the point but the show had to play catch up with the manga releases. It's not quite Dbz level bad.

Word of warning for Bleach's ending: It sort of got canceled to make room for a Naruto spin-off before the manga ended, so it just sort of... ends.

Just give the filler arcs a skip and you'll do fine, though.

Meh, I'll just trudge through them. If I hate it, I hate it. This show is already getting ridiculously long on exposition and monologuing mid-fight though.

[SolarpunkFan]

I did find this video on suggested mecha anime a while ago and only now thought to put it in here. The person talking has a heavily accented voice and sometimes makes a confusing word choice ("trueness"... I guess that means "realistic"?).

https://youtu.be/Q-QXn4Wn8VE

Sorry for all of the mecha-centric stuff. I'm not really all that familiar with other anime genres to be honest.

[Bernkastel]

So... Gurran Lagan. I heard of this a few years back but I've just now given a few episodes a shot..... I'm at a loss. Do I double-down on my assertion that this kind of fanservice is bad or do I instantly fall in love with a busty red-head in a bikini and hot pants cornholing mecha with a .50 cal sniper-rifle while her boobs jiggle endlessly?

My wife (and some old girlfriends) have shot guns with me. And when they pull the trigger, pretty much everything jiggles. And it's hot.

So, I'm at a cross-roads here because God damn it! I am still a man. But I'm still not sold on the rest of the story. At least the animation is passable.

Well, how far did you go? I ask this because episode 5 and then episode 8 and it's aftermath did a lot to change my opinion of the show. Yes, it's still very silly, but it does have a depth to it that you wouldn't expect.

[TheFeniX]

Sorry for all of the mecha-centric stuff. I'm not really all that familiar with other anime genres to be honest.

I love Mech bullshit. Always have. A bit turned off by ninja mechs in space. Much more in favor of hulking mechs pounding each other in various ways. Think Big-O, Battletech, or ROBOT JOX! Yea, motherfuckin' Robot Jox! That movie combined with Robotech pretty much defined my childhood obsession with Mechs.

Well, how far did you go? I ask this because episode 5 and then episode 8 and it's aftermath did a lot to change my opinion of the show. Yes, it's still very silly, but it does have a depth to it that you wouldn't expect.

Episode 3 I think. I haven't given up on it, but the wife has decided "I really like Bleach" so I've weened her off Vampire Diaries for a bit. Also, "silly, but a lot of depth" is pretty much the definition of most anime. Well, the stuff that isn't just complete garbage.

Someone help me out here, because these two things have bothered me for years: the Japanese dub of One Punch Man should be original, right? So, what's the deal with Metal Knight being "Metal Knight-o" and Silver Fang being "Silver-fang-u?" The Japanese have to have words for "metal" and "knight" and "silver" and "fang." These are not 20th century words. I also recall "Drive Knight" being completely intelligible to me, so it's not consistent.

Obviously, "Atomiq-u Samurai" works because "duh."

But there's a few that shouldn't. Is there a mixing of the languages here? And why do I only notice this with named characters?

And one more thing: what's the deal with that concrete slotted "walkway" that Golden Ball gets dragged through by the Udon monster? I've noticed this in multiple anime set in Japan over the years. If I had to guess, it's a stormwater drainage system, slotted both to let water in and make maintenance easy by having an easy spot for a crowbar to pry them up. But my Google-fu on this has been weak... even before it would have been Google.

I don't know what they are and it pisses me off.

[Vendetta]

Someone help me out here, because these two things have bothered me for years: the Japanese dub of One Punch Man should be original, right? So, what's the deal with Metal Knight being "Metal Knight-o" and Silver Fang being "Silver-fang-u?" The Japanese have to have words for "metal" and "knight" and "silver" and "fang." These are not 20th century words. I also recall "Drive Knight" being completely intelligible to me, so it's not consistent.

Basically just stylistic choice on the names (or eg. Mumen Rider is a parody of Kamen Rider, where the Japanese title always used the english word). Though there are quite a lot of loan words from English in Japanese, and young people use it a fair bit colloquially, so hearing odd recognisable words isn't unexpected.

[Vendetta]

The other thing to watch out for English wise is bilingual puns. Manga authors seem to think they are terribly clever if they can come up with something with meaning in both languages. For eg there's an old magical girlfriend manga called A.I. Love You, which is about boy meets ai girl, so that's one meaning, but the standard pronunciation of "ai" in Japan would be "I", which is another, the English phrase. But then the word "ai" in Japanese is also the word used for romantic love. It is quite possible that Ken Akamatsu ruined his underwear at the thought of how clever that was as a title.

[Dominus Atheos]

Is there any good recent animes that avoids the just.... cringy anime bullshit?

The only other anime on netflix I would recommend is "The devil is a part timer". All the other ones up your alley have been mentioned.

You can also subscribe to funimation.com to get access to their gigantic library.

[Q99]

Word of warning for Bleach's ending: It sort of got canceled to make room for a Naruto spin-off before the manga ended, so it just sort of... ends.

Just give the filler arcs a skip and you'll do fine, though.

Mind you, the manga ending isn't much better.

Bleach is a story that starts strong but can't keep it up.

Though of the filler, I did like the Zanpaku-to arc, which IMO surpassed the later manga arcs by a fair amount and takes advantage of the premise better than the series does.

Interestingly, my Brother-in-law brought this show up yesterday. I figured I need to give it a go.

Yea. Sidonia does have some fanservice (most common version involves photosynthesizing because the crew's all transhumanly engineered), but never in combat, no character is a perv, outfits are normal and more covering than you're probably wearing right now, yadda yadda.


Oh! And... ok, there's this thing... that a character that gets introduced later on in the second season has... it's not exactly fanservice... well, I guess I'll leave it as a surprise since I don't know a gentle way of putting it.


Anyway, it's the best Space Opera show to come out in years regardless, so, yea.



Agh, I wish I could recommend my old favorite Crest of the Stars/Banner of the Stars, but I don't think anyone streams it.

[TheFeniX]

Basically just stylistic choice on the names (or eg. Mumen Rider is a parody of Kamen Rider, where the Japanese title always used the english word). Though there are quite a lot of loan words from English in Japanese, and young people use it a fair bit colloquially, so hearing odd recognisable words isn't unexpected.

I had noticed this had become more prevalent in newer anime where, at least I would figure, there'd be a lot more English influence due to them Interwebs and the kids growing up living on it.

The only other anime on netflix I would recommend is "The devil is a part timer". All the other ones up your alley have been mentioned.

Hehe.... oh man, yea. That was a good call. I like this show, but am now pissed off there's only one season. There's a way to to a dub and I feel this is it. You reach a point sometimes where an actor is just reading lines and a lot of this might be due to poor translation dialog. This show did not have that problem. Emi Yusa's voice actress was a stand-out in this, for numerous reasons.

Though of the filler, I did like the Zanpaku-to arc, which IMO surpassed the later manga arcs by a fair amount and takes advantage of the premise better than the series does.

Netflix only has the show up until the end of the Soul Arc. Was pretty solid though Rukia being relegated to "Please save me Ichigo-san!" was pretty jarring and the side-crew being DBZed into complete uselessness was as well, though they did much less in the first arc either way.

Still, all around a pretty good show though way to heavy on exposition. Though when it's "on," I have a really hard time thinking of a better show. Also, "hey guys, we've been training for hundreds of years and this 15-year-old kid just kicked the shit out of us after doing our job for 3 months. Should we talk to him for a bit?"

"Nah, just give him a badge and send him home."

Kenpachi will go down as one of my favorite characters of all time. IMMEDIATELY pegged him with "YOU SHOULD HAVE TRAINED HARDER!" One of my favorite boss fights in video games, period: General Nazgrim. Though I dropped the ball on Ukitake. It wasn't until Old Man Badass went all Johnny Blaze at the end I finally paused it and said "That's Illidan Stormrage" to which my wife replied "who?"

Anyways, I don't think there was a scene concerning Kenpachi that wasn't stellar. Cutting short his fight wife Fox Man and Blind Dude was a travesty. I would watch a show that was just him beating fools down while mocking them ruthlessly until the end of time.