ANIME FOR SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T REALLY 'LIKE' ANIME.

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Since I can't seem to bring myself to like anime enough to care. These are what I liked that you did not mention.
(i'm just echoing what others said)

Redline
Mind Game

Anything and everything by Satoshi Kon Anything!
Anything and everythingby Mamooru Hosoda

ugh

idk ahhhh Akira?
Planetes
Serial Experiments Lain
5 Centimeters Per Second
Girl who leapt through Time is also a good one - a movie, not a series.
Read or Die is interesting, concept-wise. There was one scene that, as a bibliophile, had me in tears.
I did not understand "Girl who leapt through time". The ending is confusing. I immediately googled about it and found some theories as to what may have happened. But as it's always the case with theories, none was a complete fit. I genuinely think that story was rushed, it tried to copy the book a bit too much or something, but it didn't came out right... Still a fun watch, though.

Also, is "Monster" really an "anime"? Or is it just your average drama/horror story in anime format? I mean, what makes it "distinctly Japanese" as the OP puts it? I started watching it because many people here recommended it, but I got bored after a few episodes. I suppose it picks up later on like most things, but, is it worth it? ...Maybe I like anime more than I thought I did. xD
Yellow Magic
Could I BE any more Chandler Bing from Friends (TM)?
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author=alterego
Also, is "Monster" really an "anime"? Or is it just your average drama/horror story in anime format? I mean, what makes it "distinctly Japanese" as the OP puts it? I started watching it because many people here recommended it, but I got bored after a few episodes. I suppose it picks up later on like most things, but, is it worth it? ...Maybe I like anime more than I thought I did. xD

We're getting into dodgy territory here but the the term 'distinctly Japanese' can raise a few eyebrows...

The word for 'anime' in Japanese is アニメ. It's written in katakana, the script for words taken from foreign languages...point being, even Japanese culture borrows from other cultures.

As to whether Monster's worth your time: To be honest, if you didn't get hooked by the first few episodes, I wouldn't recommend it. It's definitely not the most fast paced anime.
author=alterego
Also, is "Monster" really an "anime"? Or is it just your average drama/horror story in anime format? I mean, what makes it "distinctly Japanese" as the OP puts it? I started watching it because many people here recommended it, but I got bored after a few episodes. I suppose it picks up later on like most things, but, is it worth it? ...Maybe I like anime more than I thought I did. xD


Monster isn't your typical anime. It has a pretty deep and complex storyline and you can really only fully appreciate it if you watch through it fully.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
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author=alterego
Also, is "Monster" really an "anime"? Or is it just your average drama/horror story in anime format?


...you... do understand that the vast, vast majority of anime and manga is not, in fact, technicolor hair and giant swords, right? That's just the stuff that we get over here, because it sells well.
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
My weabooism seems to be naturally waxing lately.

I think of myself as someone who doesn't like anime, although there are probably between one and two dozen animes that I like to absolutely freaking love (unlike Feld, DBZ and Outlaw Star do nothing for me, but I'll echo Cowboy Bebop, most iterations of Ghost In The Shell, Akira, Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze, and so on, and so forth). Recent animes that I really dig are Attack On Titan and Parasyte. A not-at-all recent and actually super old anime I just found out is AWESOME is Cyber City Oedo 808. It is possibly the greatest thing to come out of the 80s EVER.

At least 90% of anime is crap. This is true of any category of western media you can name, of course, and of western media in general. Anime tends to be crap in ways that are more noxious/more entertaining depending on your personal tolerance for "Eastern narm".

Because I might as well ask here as anywhere: I loved the Rurouni Kenshin OAV (which there's almost none of, but he kills people) but had little to no interest in the main series (which there's a ton of, but he doesn't). Recommend me some samurai genre anime? I am aware of Samurai Champloo and have been recommended it (I enjoyed the crap out of Afro Samurai, silly as it is) but am looking for something more grounded and serious here.
For samurai stuff, I liked some weird one called Shigurui. It had very minimalist animation which was off-putting at first, but I stuck with it long enough to get hooked. It's a fairly serious drama with a lot of violence. It was on Netflix for awhile, but I think Funimation might stream it.
Um, anime is short for "Japanese-animation". The stories themselves do not matter when it is described as anime, it is the actual act of it being an animation made in Japan (or, more generally, Asian countries) that makes it anime or not.

Monster is as much anime as Madoka or Phoenix or Grave of the Fireflies (and many, many other non-fantasty-based or dark/dramatic anime that exist).

author=Max McGee
Rurouni Kenshin OAV


i forgot about this.
ya i really liked this too!

trust and betrayal.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=Liberty
Grave of the Fireflies


Man, fuck that movie.
Heh; Of course I'm aware that anime is more than just this one thing. I tried to give that away by putting the word between air-quotes but alas... The point is, do we really seek anime for what it has in common with media from all around the world, or for what sets it apart? Again, "distinctly Japanese" was the criteria set by the OP to share anime in this thread. And I just couldn't see what was so distinctive about Monster. I'm not saying it's bad or anything, just probably not what the OP is looking for.
_
Anyway, has anyone seen Fate Stay Night? Is it any good? It looks interesting, but I have trouble getting into lengthy anime. .-.
I don't remember if it was Fate Night/Stay or one of the other ones, but I decided it was terrible after about 4-5 episodes in. It was whichever one Nessiah told me was the best one, some time ago.
For the best experience of watching Fate/Stay Night, watch the Unlimited Blade Works (UBW) anime series (the one by Ufotable).

Me? I watched the Studio Deen version of Fate/Stay Night anime series and the UBW movie, and while their quality certainly can't compare to Ufotable's version, I did enjoy the Studio Deen version.

Now, all I'm waiting for is the Heaven's Feel movie (the third story branch in the Fate/Stay Night series). That one is going to be soooo epic ~ ~

EDIT: Oh, and be sure to also watch Fate/Zero. While this is the prequel to Fate/Stay Night, it's more mature. But I would advise watching Fate/Stay Night first before watching Fate/Zero because you literally won't understand a thing in Fate/Zero without first watching Fate/Stay Night.
TehGuy
Resident Nonexistence
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author=eplipswich
EDIT: Oh, and be sure to also watch Fate/Zero. While this is the prequel to Fate/Stay Night, it's more mature. But I would advise watching Fate/Stay Night first before watching Fate/Zero because you literally won't understand a thing in Fate/Zero without first watching Fate/Stay Night.


I dunno, I felt I had benefited from watching F/Z before F/SN (UBW) as a lot of motivations/backstroy for the characters in UBW was practically laid out or easier to grasp due to watching F/Z
Fate/Stay Night might be cool, but I'm totally not into the art style.

author=alterego
Heh; Of course I'm aware that anime is more than just this one thing. I tried to give that away by putting the word between air-quotes but alas... The point is, do we really seek anime for what it has in common with media from all around the world, or for what sets it apart? Again, "distinctly Japanese" was the criteria set by the OP to share anime in this thread. And I just couldn't see what was so distinctive about Monster. I'm not saying it's bad or anything, just probably not what the OP is looking for.
_
Anyway, has anyone seen Fate Stay Night? Is it any good? It looks interesting, but I have trouble getting into lengthy anime. .-.

That's not true; I did say that things 'distinctly Japanese' is what I've enjoyed in the past, but not necessarily the only thing I'm looking for now. Monster actually looks pretty dope!
Trihan
"It's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly...timey wimey...stuff."
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If you're looking for something a bit more grounded in reality, there's one on Netflix I just started watching called Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso) that seems pretty interesting so far. It's about a piano prodigy who stops playing after he loses his mother but then meets a bubbly fourteen-year-old violin player who turns his life around.
author=Trihan
If you're looking for something a bit more grounded in reality, there's one on Netflix I just started watching called Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso) that seems pretty interesting so far. It's about a piano prodigy who stops playing after he loses his mother but then meets a bubbly fourteen-year-old violin player who turns his life around.

Yeah, I would highly recommend this too, though this is a bit more into romance and drama similar to Clannad, something I don't think Feld is actually interested in (or is he?).

If you are willing to delve into the anime world of romance, though, Feld, I have a considerably large list to recommend :p. Romance is, after all, one of my favorite anime genres. I also have some great slice of life anime to recommend.
hmmm. You share my thoughts on Fate/Stay Night. In that case, if you're looking for historical and/or fantasy that isn't also ridiculous, try...

The first half of Otogizoshi
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto
Record of Lodoss War is a classic. The OVAs, not the TV series.

Oh yeah. It's sci-fi, but Freedom is a really good OVA series, from the same mind as Akira.
I highly recommend Death Note. Deep story and multifaceted characters, definitely not your typical anime.

As for the "historical" stuff, I'd go with Basilisk and Rurouni Kenshin. One for Ninja and one for Samurai, respectively.

Sci-Fi/Mecha: Code Geass and contrary to popular opinion, Gundam Wing. I didn't care for Gundam Wing back when it was on Cartoon Network, but as I got older I learned to appreciate it's story and unintentional humor. If you like something short, action packed, funny, and adventurous, go with Zoids: New Century Zero. It's sister series is Zoids: Chaotic Century/Guardian Force, which is just as action packed, but longer and more serious.

Now for Western inspired animesque cartoons, I'd go with Avatar the Last Airbender and dare I say RWBY. Both are surprisingly well done.

Some of the other aforementioned ones were good as well, such as Monster, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Trigun.