Anime: Used to Hate It, Now I'm Curious

[zappa1one]

Akagi

[UnidColor]

Death Note

You should watch that, the anime is sort of based on real life, several of my friends who dislikes anime have had their mind change after watching it, mainly because its just so different from the typical anime image.

Its a good story,well animated and great music/voice acting.
You wont find sword-fights or girls with big boobies in it as far as I can tell, tho there is a monster in it but u wont be bothered by it, mainly because the story is about normal humans living a normal life until something exiting happens to one guy.

Its just something that makes u wonder, if the same thing would have happened to u right now, what would u do...


Last thing, the anime doesnt take very long to get what it is about, very exiting from the first episode. so u will quickly get if u like it or not.

[Sebestian]

Air, Kanon, and Clannad. They may be moe, but They have a pretty good story.

[Kuroyue]

I'm here to thoroughly second Kino no Tabi, Paranoia Agent, Serial Experiments Lain, and Studio 4c. The first is philosophical, the middle two are pure brainfood, and the latter is well-known for good animation.

Also, maaybe .hack//SIGN. It's somewhat similar to Paranoia Agent and Serial Experiments Lain in plot-style, except in an RPG universe.

[nofu]

Gurren Lagann

This is only about 28 episodes long but it's intense. The animation is really clean. They story line develops really well in the 28 episodes - I was surprised and didn't want it to end. Mecha wise it's the most innovative I've seen. I don't like mecha anime, but I liked this a lot.

Yeah, loved this anime too. It's one of those things where there comes a point (actually several of them) where you think that this shit can't possibly get any more epic and wacky and 30 seconds later it does.

[Dave_]

Gurren Lagann

This is only about 28 episodes long but it's intense. The animation is really clean. They story line develops really well in the 28 episodes - I was surprised and didn't want it to end. Mecha wise it's the most innovative I've seen. I don't like mecha anime, but I liked this a lot.

I want to see this D;, however i can't seem to find any good stuff on the web.

[Hyskoa]

Gurren Lagann is about as epic as epic gets, it's the anime version of a barrel of cocaine.

[Jovian M]

Anything Bones, Gainex or Madhouse gets involved with is usually watchable. Can't say I've seen anything since TTGL, though.

[paberu]

Higashi no Eden (eden of the east) is a really good show, so is Hachimitsu to Clover (Honey and Clover) and Nodame

and of course..... Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei!!!!!!!!!

[CCorsair]

Well as some who had been working at Anime Fan for over 40 years and worked on Major cons and Anime Fandom for over 30 years and with Companies Like AnimEgo for convention sales Plus have ran 3 Anime Clubs . I think i can answer any question .. YA I come from the days of No subtitles No dubs or any translation but for a bad written guess of what is being said on 3 to 4th get video tape you traded some thing from your collection to get.
the days when you sat in a room with a bunch of other people with at lease 3 to 4 20" TVs in bad shape to watch Queen of 1000 year with some reading a scrip from the back of the room and not dry eye in the house at the end..


Anime is some thing to shear with many but yes some of it is very silly and not worth watching (all of Dragon ball ) and some is over the top action and and some make you laugh and some with make you laugh and cry
(Video Girl Ai I dare you not to cry in the last eps Or Grave Of the Fireflies you will kill 20 box's tissues on that one) Some anime can cover History and some can make it ..

I lost about 70 to 80% of my early anime collection due to some people just stealing thing instead of packing them and moving them to storage for us when we lost our home due to the Dot Com gong under along with tech job. I been trying to rebuild it as a lot of the early anime has not been sent to DVD and that is real same as some of the better Anime titles i lost are just hard to find in any format . I still many titles on Laser disc (yes LASER DISC)
Tons of VHS still and newer titles on DVD or digital formats.(gb of Anime files)

So if you have any question or need to know where to find a titles or the history of any titles let me know If i don't know it i know someone that does.

CC

[Falchion]

Let's see... Black Lagoon: Blood, guts, philosophizing about violence and the human condition. Probably not your type. Evangelion: Giant cyborg robots, extremely detailed philosophical discussions, and Hideki Anno taking a corkscrew to your brain with the last few episodes and the movies. Possibly your type. Azumanga Daioh: Schoolgirl slice of life. The art style's a little more than slightly anti-fanservice. Plain old cute fun. You'd probably like it.

Plenty more to come, just a few that spring to mind.

[Ian Barker]

Anime is some thing to shear with many but yes some of it is very silly and not worth watching (all of Dragon ball )

Okay it may be kinda silly but let's not be bashing it now, DB is all awesome and charm (the original at least, DBZ is alright)

[ImaGEEnation]

Steamboy.

[Icon]

I don't understand why people hate any kind of genre. I can understand a dislike for a style but to completely disregard another wonderful form of storytelling entirely for it, seems kind of whack.

buuut aaaaannyyyywaaay!!!


i wanna share with all of you my two favorite animes! From an AMAZING author, Naoki Urasawa.

Monster

and

20th Century Boys


Just strong story telling on both stories! You'll be hooked immediately!

[CCorsair]

Okay it may be kinda silly but let's not be bashing it now, DB is all awesome and charm (the original at least, DBZ is alright)

Dragonball Z was the second show .. DB was ok it wasn't the greatest but it was ok ..it was early 70's show that just seem to never die..LOL

And sorry didn't mean to offend just my views of anime and I seen ton bad and tons of good ..and some that would just send you screaming ...some time its good that not all anime gets to the US and the some shows up and you have to say why did they wast air time to that when they could have had better shows?

I grew up withe the anime dubs of the 60's .. some of them make bad dubs now sound like Shakespeare in comparison lol.

I will say if the could get more voice actors to the mix and get them watch the original we have great voice actors for some good anime titles .. Disney need to stop using big name star that just not fit the parts..

Miyazaki Hayao stuff really get hit hard when it dub wrong. Ok i just very critical on that stuff ... lol

CC

[Cherry_Cheesecake100]

The other day I was chatting (well, trying to ignore) a co-worker that also watches anime, and I realized how far out of the mainstream anime I've become, because though he'd probably spent a good 1/3 of his time watching the stuff, he knew nothing about any of the shows I mentioned. So let me see if I can dig up some of the cult anime here...

Monster - This has been mentioned a few times. Probably one of the best animes ever created that nobody's watched. It's made by the same guys as the Death Note anime. (Which greatly overshadows it unfortunately)

Rose of Versailles - Historical fiction about Marie Antoinette. A popular shoujo from the 70s.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - A very... interesting show. Very symbolic.

Princess Tutu - Stupid name, stupid premise (A duck is turned into a girl is turned into a magical ballerina princess that must collect the shards of a storybook prince's heart and fight a giant evil raven) But turns out to be a beautiful, well written show with some great imagery and unexpected twists.

Mind Game - This one's just surreal.

Koi Kaze - This one's not for everyone. It's about a brother and a sister, and yes it's THAT kind of show. Respected for its honest storyline that never panders or insults despite its subject matter, though it can be a bit disturbing.

Please Save My Earth - A story about alien beings reincarnated as people on earth. This manga/oav was so popular in the 90s people started forming a cult around it. Oh, and it's a great story.

Maison Ikkoku - A story about a down on his luck university student that tries to court his recently widowed apartment manager. Made by Rumiko Takahashi when she still cared about her work. Also try the Mermaid Saga.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes - Haven't watched this one yet, but I've only heard good things. People have been fighting for years to get it liscensed to no avail.

There are many more, many of which have been mentioned, Such as the Girl who Leapt Through Time, Hanabi Renmei and all of Satoshi Kon's work. Happy watching!

[JFierce]

Just remembered one I havent seen in awhile but was pretty good
I dont think "Heatguy J" was mentioned

[Ninjerk]

I'm always shocked that I never see anyone mention Macross Plus in favorite anime threads. I think it's technically a miniseries (6 episodes? been so long since I've seen it).

It's mainly, from what I remember, a cyberpunk romance (replete with an AI) with Macross as a mere backdrop. The animation for the action/flight scenes is amazing from what I remember.

[SpaceRogue]

What, no one mentioned Noein ? Great plot (past present futer stuff ) ,wonderful style and not to crappy animated either !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaQIedxf4ZE

[LORD M]

I watched some animes (Neon Genesis ,Elfen Lied and some more) was a while ago, and the only one that made a big impression on me was one named Monster. Just the opening differs from all other animes, and I like the main character who's more human then in any other anime (no silly super powers or such).

[Richie]

dont think anyones mentioned one of my favorite animes:
Now and Then, Here and There
http://www.amazon.com/Then-There-Com.../dp/B000063K2C

[tobbA]

I think The Twelve Kingdoms/Juuni Kokki deserves more love...

Great epic fantasy set in a world based on chinese mythology.

[Brashen]

I don't get why every new doo dah must be lectured about anime and whats good and whats bad....there are a billion and one threads that offer the same advice and you can have one brain cell and still tell the difference between crap and not crap...

[Christian223]

Azumanga Daioh is a good recommendation for laughing:


And watch anything with Macross in the name.

[Raoul Duke]

Okay it's not anime but it's what you're looking for. You should check out anything by Ralph Bakshi.
American Pop

Wizards

Fire and Ice

[Gory]

When you get beyond the melodrama that is so pervasive in Anime, Fullmetal Alchemist stands out as having an engaging story and believable, empathetic characters. Not the first one that diverged from the comic's story halfway through, but the current one in production, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. It more or less follows the comic's story verbatim, with some liberties in editing taken. FUNimation is subtitling and putting the episodes up on their website for free. (This is licensed and 100% legal, just fyi) It's a brilliant business strategy, given the amount of piracy that happens in that community. The episodes go up on their website a week after they air in Japan. Not shabby at all.

[Ninjerk]

Don't forget The Record of Lodoss War: The Grey Witch. It's basically European high fantasy--very good if you're looking for an easy transition.

[NickGuy]

Evangelion changed my life. Watch it please

[Jtho]

My recommendation is to avoid what is called "Shonen" type shows, which are generally series about a group of young people who gain extraordinary super powers and battle evil--Dragon Ball Z, Bleach, Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece, etc. These types of shows tend to have the worst of the stereotypical anime garbage and honestly they are generally pretty insipid.

[SCIBOTIC]

Technically this isn't an anime, it's a French production that was produced as a collaboration with a Japanese studio. But it's wonderful kids series that is imaginative, colourful and a joy to watch, Oban Star Racers.