Anime Recommendations

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2002-10-14 12:12pm

I'm am beginning anime fan and since we've got numerous anime junkies I thought I'd ask for recommendations. So far the only show I've followed has been Cowboy Bebop.

All I ask is keep the recommendation to two (2) at most. And explain why. And no giant mechs, mobile suits, robots gihting shows.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-10-14 12:55pm

Hmm of the top of my head two come to mind

The Movie Akira, traditonaly the movie I use to introduce people to Anime and the series Trigun

And no there are only two guns not three in Trigun, but the charaters are intresting and the action of the most part is above-par

And watching Vash stumble his way through is rather funny at times

Good series, 26 Epsodes long if I remeber and anyone who knows Anime knows Akira

Also Yu-Yu Haksho is decent(What other show kills off the main charater in the first epsioded)
Be warned it is very hard to follow and understand at points

Hmm thats off the top of my head lemme think awhile on this one

XaLEv · Post by **XaLEv** » 2002-10-14 12:57pm

Do you have something against mecha?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2002-10-14 01:24pm

XaLEv wrote:Do you have something against mecha?

No, I just don't really want to watch those. I've watched a few of those and after a while all the episodes and series tend to blur and I'm not really interested.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2002-10-14 01:31pm

Mr Bean wrote:Hmm of the top of my head two come to mind

The Movie Akira, traditonaly the movie I use to introduce people to Anime and the series Trigun

And no there are only two guns not three in Trigun, but the charaters are intresting and the action of the most part is above-par

And watching Vash stumble his way through is rather funny at times

Good series, 26 Epsodes long if I remeber and anyone who knows Anime knows Akira

Also Yu-Yu Haksho is decent(What other show kills off the main charater in the first epsioded)
Be warned it is very hard to follow and understand at points

Hmm thats off the top of my head lemme think awhile on this one

I thought that there were three guns in Trigun. Vash had the revolver, the small one in his left arm and the huge honking one(I think it was the Angel Arms). Or am I mistaken. Note: I got this from the art book so I don't know if all of it was in the series, I've only seen about half of it.

Kelly Antilles · Post by **Kelly Antilles** » 2002-10-14 01:33pm

Adventure based series are my favorites.

Record of Lodoss War, the OAV. (not the series) It's about a group of adventurers who come together to save their continent from a demon. There are dragons involved.

The Slayers (the first of three, or is it four? series.) Campy, cutsie, hilarious, yet actually has a really good storyline.

I personally cannot agree with Bean about Akira. I didn't really like it. It's an ok introduction to Anime, but... *shrug* Although, I've never seen it subtitled. That might actually change my opinion.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-10-14 01:38pm

I thought that there were three guns in Trigun. Vash had the revolver, the small one in his left arm and the huge honking one(I think it was the Angel Arms). Or am I mistaken. Note: I got this from the art book so I don't know if all of it was in the series, I've only seen about half of it.

Not the *Guns in question are one carried by Vash and one Carried by another as anyone who watched the Shows Intro would know

and I can't say more without spoilers

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2002-10-14 01:40pm

Mr Bean wrote:
I thought that there were three guns in Trigun. Vash had the revolver, the small one in his left arm and the huge honking one(I think it was the Angel Arms). Or am I mistaken. Note: I got this from the art book so I don't know if all of it was in the series, I've only seen about half of it.
Not the *Guns in question are one carried by Vash and one Carried by another as anyone who watched the Shows Intro would know and I can't say more without spoilers

Oh yeah I remember. After watching it once I skipped the intros.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-10-14 01:43pm

Oh yeah I remember. After watching it once I skipped the intros

You should watch it, theres a slighy diffrent intro each time though only in tiny things

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2002-10-14 01:49pm

Escaflowne

It's kind of a knights in armour mecha show with excellent combat scenes, particularly towards the end. It also has some really mind-blowing plot twists and really complex characters.

Score by Yoko Kanno. That there should be reason enough to see it.

It's also kind of shojo-ish, and the main character is a girl. There isn't really any nudity, but some parts can be pretty graphic when it comes to violence. But if you've got a soft spot for mushy stuff, you'll enjoy it.

Metropolis

Made in 2001. Written by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), directed by Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999), based on the 1940s manga by Osamu Tezuka, the God of Manga. All I can really say is that this film is amazing, and must be seen.

Remember, Japanese only, especially for Escaflowne. That dub is just awful.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2002-10-14 02:19pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote: It's also kind of shojo-ish, and the main character is a girl. There isn't really any nudity, but some parts can be pretty graphic when it comes to violence. But if you've got a soft spot for mushy stuff, you'll enjoy it.

Metropolis

Made in 2001. Written by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), directed by Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999), based on the 1940s manga by Osamu Tezuka, the God of Manga. All I can really say is that this film is amazing, and must be seen.

Based, of course, on the 1926 German silent film by Fritz Lang, which provided the principal environmental inspiration for Blade Runner.

Watch Lang's version, because it's better, possibly one of the more influential sience fiction movies of all time..

Also watch:

Princess Mononoke - one of the very best films y one of the very best Japanese filmmakers.

Bubblegum Crisis - I prefer the original, though some have been known to like the remake more, choose your poison, girls in power armour kick the shit out of psycho-killer robots in both (the original has better music). Just avoid the spinoffs, like they were plague bearers.

And read:

Lone Wolf and Cub - The best samurai fiction ever, Miyasaki included. You need this in your brain-parts.

Gunnm/Battle Angel Alita - Stunning artwork and an exquisite eye for action scenes mark this as one of the finest debut works an artist has ever produced.

Akira - Much better in comic form than as a film, the story's longer, twistier, and better realised (and the end's still confusing as fuck).

Appleseed - The finest hard-sf mecha story you will come across, this is Masamune Shirow's (Ghost in the Shell) magnum opus, it has all of his obsessions (apart, possibly, from tanks) in one place, and fine stories and characters to boot.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2002-10-14 02:22pm

Vendetta wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote: It's also kind of shojo-ish, and the main character is a girl. There isn't really any nudity, but some parts can be pretty graphic when it comes to violence. But if you've got a soft spot for mushy stuff, you'll enjoy it.

Metropolis

Made in 2001. Written by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), directed by Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999), based on the 1940s manga by Osamu Tezuka, the God of Manga. All I can really say is that this film is amazing, and must be seen.
Based, of course, on the 1926 German silent film by Fritz Lang, which provided the principal environmental inspiration for Blade Runner.

Not exactly. Tezuka wrote the manga without actually seeing the film, only it's poster.

Watch Lang's version, because it's better, possibly one of the more influential sience fiction movies of all time..

That's not the best reason. I know Lang's version is better, but the anime is excellent as well.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2002-10-14 02:22pm

Well, I'm not a huge anime fan. I mainly just watch what comes on Cartoon Network and half of these new ones suck. But, back to the topic.

First and foremost, is Dragon Ball Z. That actually got me to watching anime. Now it's influencing my artwork much like Star Wars has. It can be serious, and be pretty comedic as well. If you get the chance, try watching the videos, they are for the most part uncut.

Trigun. They have the series on DVD which I'm sure is dubbed, but thirty bucks a pop doesn't fly for three episodes. I have downloaded all 26 episodes (okay, I'm finishing up DL 20 right now.) and so far they have been incrediably entertaining. Vash is a legendary gunman who stumbles around into dumbluck situations. If you have Kazaa, look for suprehombre on there and you should be able to find my Trigun episodes until I burn them over to cd.

No mechas?!? That's like half of anime right there. Oh well, I'm going against your rules now for your own good.

Honourable mentions.
Outlaw Star. I hated this at first when I saw the ships and how they acted. Sit down and start watching, you will be DRAWN in. If you can, find a friend like I did, that had all three DVDs. Watch those. If not, catch em on Cartoon Network on Saturday nights.

Big-O. It's played off as a cross between Batman and James Bond. However, there is a giant robot in it. Show only lasts about 13 episodes I believe. More than likely you'll have to get the DVDs in order to see this one.

Gundam Wing, 08th MS Team are both enthralling. The characters' stories are very deep.

Cowboy Beebop. Trust me on this one.

Like I said, mostly what's been on Cartoon Network, but then again, I'm not a huge Anime fan anyways.

Moonshadow · Post by **Moonshadow** » 2002-10-14 02:23pm

i'm also considering getting into Anime. As a big RPG gamer its hard to not encounter an RPG with Anime-like characters( Grandia Series, Lunar Series, Crono Series, etc) . Although i'm not big fan of DBZ( mostly because of what i heard from true DBZ fans is that it was once an interesting show but seems to become the next Pokemon{aka a big marketing ploy})

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2002-10-14 02:26pm

They only say that because when it came to America and became uber popular they started making shit that people wanted. I can't stand whiney ass bitch fan boys that cry about marketing everytime something becomes popular. Look at me, Star Wars has a huge marketing campaign. Do I cry? Nooo. I buy shit. Same with DBZ, I've bought a few things pertaining to it. Big-O had the action figure come out and I bought it right away. So what if they market shit. DBZ rocks. Dragon Ball is an awesome series. It truely is comedic. I haven't seen anything of GT, (I'm trying not to spoil anything. I have music videos people have made but that's it.) but I hear its excellent as well. Watch DBZ.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2002-10-14 02:27pm

Akira - Much better in comic form than as a film, the story's longer, twistier, and better realised (and the end's still confusing as fuck).

Does ANYONE have a clue about the ending to Akira? I must have seen that movie 8 or 9 times, LOVE the animation and most of the story, BUT the end just confuses the hell out of me and I thought maybe the comic would have a better explanation for the ending. The best I can come up with is that Tetsuo is now a god in his own little universe that sucked in all of neo Tokyo, but that seems a bit far fetched to me.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2002-10-14 02:28pm

If you must infect yourself with Dragonball, make it the comic, because then you don't have to endure the characters stopping to grunt at each other for five minutes in between EVERY SINGLE DAMN LINE (might be an eaggeration, but only a slight one)

Also you gt the slight fillip that the current translated publication is printed properly (right to left), which is nice.

Lone Wolf and Cub - The best samurai fiction ever, Miyasaki included. You need this in your brain-parts.

Obviously, I meant Toriyama here, bu I'm a silly bastard.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2002-10-14 02:29pm

Akira took Tetsuo back to his universe to prevent him from destroying the world.

Moonshadow · Post by **Moonshadow** » 2002-10-14 02:52pm

"They only say that because when it came to America and became uber popular they started making shit that people wanted. I can't stand whiney ass bitch fan boys that cry about marketing everytime something becomes popular. Look at me, Star Wars has a huge marketing campaign. Do I cry? Nooo. I buy shit. Same with DBZ, I've bought a few things pertaining to it. Big-O had the action figure come out and I bought it right away. So what if they market shit. DBZ rocks. Dragon Ball is an awesome series. It truely is comedic. I haven't seen anything of GT, (I'm trying not to spoil anything. I have music videos people have made but that's it.) but I hear its excellent as well. Watch DBZ."

To make products based on something is one thing, to flood the market with about a new video every Two seconds, Two Game Boy advanced games, and a whole section of Wal-Marts toy dept dedicated to it is a little over board.

Also since i work in the Electronics Dept. i get to deal with the "Fad-Fans" who only like it because its "whats popular". I have on kid who calls everyday wanting me to list every DBZ episode we have(which is agrivating when you have 20 customers who actually bother to come in and buy something waiting) and no Wal-Mart doesn't have this magic computer that tells us what we have in stock and where it is. We don't even do our ordering for Music, Movies, and Sofware, its done by a vendor (Anderson Merchandise to be exact)

Sorry about it sounding like an issue i have with my job but I'm sure you can see why it think DBZ is so annoying. Maybe if i watch it i might like it but seeing the kind of fans i see of the show eveyday at work, i dout i'll bother. Hell it took me seven years to start watching Star Trek because of how stupid the "fanboys" looked.

Post by **Kuja** » 2002-10-14 04:00pm

Definately watch Outlaw Star, it's awesome, and it's actually dubbed well.

If you'll get over this "no mecha" crap, watch G Gundam. It has THE best characters and a plot I absolutely love.

Dragonball Z is pretty good, although I rarely watch it anymore.

Cowboy Bebop. No need to say any more.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2002-10-14 06:03pm

I know what your saying about the fanboy shit. Just because a series, such as DBZ, has some whiner ass kids as fans doesn't mean shit about the series. Star Trek, Star Wars, hell anything like that starts getting followings. That's sometimes how you can tell if it's good. If it's good enough to not only attract mature thinking individuals, but pompous jerks and little kids, then it has more to it than what's on the surface. You should really watch DBZ.

Post by **weemadando** » 2002-10-14 06:10pm

Watch:

Robotech - I encountered someone who hadn't even heard of this the other day. I slapped them. HARD.

All-Purpose Cybernetic Catgirl Nuku-Nuku - Damn hilarious and just plain weird.

Rorouni Kenshin - Brilliance.

Cowboy Bebop - More Brilliance.

Little Goddesses - Silliness.

Ninja Scroll - Because you can.

Akira - What most people get started with.

Patlabor 1&2 - Mecha movies done right.

Wings of Honnemaise(sp?) - The most amazing anime movie I've ever seen.

Night of the Fireflies (I think thats it) - The second most amazing anime movie I've ever seen.

The Lupin Movies - Lots of fun. Lots and lots and lots of fun.

Umm... Can't be bothered adding more, BUT - You must watch all of these in Japanese with Subtitles. Anything else just won't work.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2002-10-14 06:13pm

I think you mean Adventures of the Mini-Goddesses (spin off of Ah, Megami-sama) and Grave of the Fireflies.

God, I cried for ten minutes after first watching that.

Post by **weemadando** » 2002-10-14 06:29pm

Those would be the correct names.

When I first watched Grave of the Fireflies it was at anime society at uni. But we couldn't get the goddamn video talking to the computer talking to the projector properly, as such we had to watch it in black and white, which was still just amazing. And yes, I cried too. That was a brilliant movie.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-10-14 06:34pm

God, I cried for ten minutes after first watching that.

DAMN

Hmm when I got shot I sniffed for all of thirty Seconds

When I was six and maced myself(Quite a funny story but sufficet it to say I put it in my eyes and up my nose) I cried for a minute and a half

When I was 12 and broke my foot and leg in sixteen placed I cried for 30 seconds tops(Shock is your friend belive me, espcily when you get that bad of a break 1/2 mile from your house in the woods)