RMN ANIME

author=Mr_Detective
LOL How many of us actually checked out the anime that others suggested ? :D

Persona 4 anime is okay, Anything Megaman Battlenet is pretty shit, and I played the games from the first to the 6th, anime especially horrible, Mererur Beamn is pretty cool, uh. Yeah.

author=Mr_Detective
LOL How many of us actually checked out the anime that others suggested ? :D

I'm going to check out Sword Art Online.

author=Mr_Detective
LOL How many of us actually checked out the anime that others suggested ? :D

I'm probably going to at least take a gander at Blue Exorcist now, actually.

Someone mentioned this in the other topic, but I'll go into it here...
---
Serial Experiments Lain is an odd and creepy look at the future of communication. It describes an only-slightly-removed future technology called "The Wired" which is essentially the Internet, but woven into more aspects of our life than ever (actually, this show was made in 1999 and is hardly even futuristic at this point).

It delves into the ideas of personal identity, anonymity and the border between the digital and physical worlds as well as what happens when aspects of your digital personality cross with your real self.

The art style is beautiful and minimalistic and the show intersperses quiet tension with stressful ideas. It manages to be very subtle without ever being boring. The audio is beautifully done, with some of the best use of silence and atmospheric noise I've seen in an anime.

The plot surrounds a quiet young girl named Lain who finally gets her first real computer after receiving an e-mail from a student that had supposedly committed suicide. From there the show grows to show the effects of the Wired on the real world, and vice-versa.


It's hard to quite capture the pacing of the show in a trailer - it's by no means an action show.

It's only 13 episodes long, and it's as long as it needs to be. If you liked the weirder bits of Evangelion you may very well like Serial Experiments Lain.

I just finished watching Code Geass a couple of minutes ago, and I want to tap into it...

But anything I say here will be a disgrace to the best anime ever created.

All I can say is, if you haven't already, watch it, if you have, do so again...

There is a 100% chance I'm emotional because of just having watched the final episode, but whatever. It's awesome, watch it.

author=Yellow Magic
Code Geass had a great first season but it´s a stretch to call it the best anime ever IMO.

author=Jeroen_Sol
There is a 100% chance I'm emotional because of just having watched the final episode, but whatever. It's awesome, watch it.

The second season isn't bad though. Even if the first was better, it was still great to watch, since many of the characters, like Suzaku, Charles and CC, were finally fleshed out. Also, I liked Schneizer much better as adversary than Cornelia. And then there's the ending. The ending.... -drools-

author=Mr_Detective
LOL How many of us actually checked out the anime that others suggested ? :D

At least half the anime I've watched were by recommendation. It is also worth noting that I turn off most shows within the first ten minutes - I cannot stand 99% of moe and shounen garbage.

Shows I recommend. Probably not a complete list. I'm pretty sure this list is similar to the recommendations I gave to Chearlie on IRC awhile back:

Cross Game - Calling this a sports anime, while accurate, doesn't really do it justice - it's best described as a show about people that love and play baseball. It features old-school character designs/aesthetics and only average animation, so the artistry isn't really the reason one would watch this. What sells this show is its strong cast of characters - it's simply wonderful seeing them grow and change over the course of the series, and how deeply and profoundly a single person who has long since passed can effect people. The baseball games are more than just games - there's just as much, if not more, character development in them than normal.

It is worth noting that I do not give a shit about baseball, and yet this is still my favorite anime.

Spice and Wolf - A drunken wolf goddess and a merchant travel the countryside looking for good investments (capitalism!) while searching for the former's homeland. They usually get into trouble instead. Better than it sounds. Has some really good writing.

Monster - This is often classified as horror, but it's not all that scary and the bad guy is far too deep to be a traditional horror movie villain. I think it's more accurate to describe it as a mystery/psychological drama. It's also very long. It's occasionally stiff (probably due to being a 100% faithful port of the manga) and a little preachy, but a classic nonetheless. Some people hate the ending but I love the open-ended nature of it, personally.

Planetes - A relatively realistic take on near-future sci-fi, it foregoes giant mecha and instead places the focus on space garbage men. Features complex characters and a very broad set of themes - scientific progress, space colonialism, terrorism, etc. Watch the sub, the dub's terrible.

Azumanga Daioh - Made before school slice-of-life shows were a dime-a-dozen, this is still the best of them since each character's moe archetype doesn't define them as a person. Very weird. Also, very funny. Just don't expect a plot, yeah?

Toradora! - Romantic dramedy that tells you exactly how it's going to end within the first two minutes of the show. It's a good ride, though. It has a surprising focus on human psychology, and completely deconstructs the moe archetypes present. Most shows that focus on romance are terrible, this one does it quite well.

Great Teacher Onizuka - A shounen anime about a sleazebag that learns what it means to be a good teacher - you know, like not trying to make moves on underage girls. GTO is hilarious and rides on the audacity of its plot and amazing lead, and has a fair few important things to say, too. It's sad that the ending for the anime is sloppily put together (they ran out of manga at the time), but oh well.

Hajime no Ippo - Will teach you far more about boxing than you ever thought possible, and will entertain you while doing so - even if you couldn't give a damn about the sport. It's very different than Cross Game, but they do share an important commonality - strong characters and good writing.

Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu - The other two seasons for this have their good points, but the second season foregoes the dramatic elements and is mostly slapstick comedy with romantic elements. It is by far the best of the show's three seasons and is absolutely hilarious - it is also watchable without viewing the other two seasons. The show's two leads are especially great when interacting with one another, which is very often.

Higurashi - A bunch of generic moe girls make friends with a boy that just moved into to town. Feels like harem shlock, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Unlike most shows that do the 'incredibly violent anime girls' thing, this is actually good.

Paranoia Agent - I'd try to explain this, but I'll just link to the opening instead:
Soft or sarcastic recommendations:

Gundam 00 - Ridiculous mecha action with pseudo-religious undertones, mad geniuses, overpowered bishounen, evil empires and terrorism in the name of peace. I was entertained for the entirety of the show's run in spite of it getting really stupid on occasion. At least it's a much better show than Code Geass.

Casshern Sins - Are you feeling down? Depressed? Lonely? Well, this will pick you right up, and I'm not being sarcastic at all right now! Honest!

Code Geass - This show is really stupid, poorly-written, contrived, terrible, ridiculous and completely overwrought! These are the same qualities that make it entertaining, however! Best with friends and pizza, especially if you're all drunk/high. Please do not try to convince me that there's some sort of deeper meaning to this nonsense.

School Days - A more, uh... 'realistic' take on the harem anime concept... haha... ha...

author=Yellow Magic
I think you forgot to put Fumoffu under "Soft or sarcastic recommendations" Karsuman...

Pretty sure it's exactly where I want it to be, Yellow Magic...

author=Yellow Magic
...no it's not...

u jus mad cuz code geass sux

author=Yellow Magic
EDIT: Also, people hate anything about Monster? Madness

I liked it a lot! Doesn't mean I didn't have problems with it, though!

author=Milennin
I'll list a few of my favourites here...

Dragon Ball Z
or watching the characters develop over the course of the series.

read: if not a saiyan, develop = become useless entirely, also skip the buu saga, as it was complete garbage, cell saga4lyfe

karsuman considers my interests as "shonen tripe" so if this does not sound appealing, you can probably just skip my suggestions

IF YOU LIKE COOL BADASS FIGHTS THAT DON'T ALWAYS NEED A PLOT, READ ON
Berserk
Completely brutal. "Ending" was kind of a WTF moment, but still good. I think a remake was in the works instead of a continuation. Can't say i'm optimistic about it.

Black Lagoon
Amped up testosterone ride. No a real point to it, but was just like a nice action flick.

Darker Than BLACK
First season left some pretty dire loose ends but the concept was good. FUCK THE SECOND SEASON. Third season is coming but I dunno if my poor heart can take it.

Death Note
Do yourself a favor and stop after the first season. The ending was...okay. But meh.

Elfen Lied
Had a lot of shock value to it. Although I could have done without the several scenes of naked kids.

Escaflowne
Like Gundam except in the past. Pretty good old school anime. Might not measure up to newer standards, but good for nostalgia either way.

Fate-Stay Night and Fate Zero
Lots of win.

Fooly Cooly (Furi Kuri)
I believe it was made explicitly as an animation project (which would make sense given how many different styles are used) but I could be wrong. Only 6 episodes and after watching through it several times it actually all made sense!

Full Metal Alchemist
If I had to choose between this and Brotherhood, I'd watch Brotherhood. Essentially the same story, but Brotherhood did it better. Better fights, more coherent story-telling, just overall better!

GetBackers
This would qualify as Karsuman's definition of Shonen tripe, but I liked it.

Ghost in the Shell
This had a bit of everything when it came to story telling. Really well done, intelligent, series.

GunGRAVE
Started out really awesome but kinda meh towards the end. Very common in anime D:

Last Exile
Pretty interesting setting. I like sky/flying-oriented themes.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Super fucked up and depressing. In a good way. Don't let the first three episodes fool you.

Paranoia Agent
The doll got super annoying, but if you like psychology at all, this will interest you.

Rurouni Kenshin
When you actually get to the plot it's a pretty standard samurai show, but it's done well.

Samurai Champloo
By far my favorite anime. I think I've watched through it 11 times now? Fuu sucks, but Mugen and Jin, along with most of the characters are excellent. Substories are great. The ironic mission was great. The animation was great. Only, fuck the zombie episode. Just sucked. The rest was fantastic.

School Rumble
If you've ever fancied anyone else in real life, Harima is super relatable.

Soul Eater
Didn't capitalize on certain plot points, but the animation was top notch and the characters were definitely likable.

Steins;Gate
A little slow-paced, but really picked up towards the end. Was really over the top with it's main character, but tolerable since that was the entire point behind him.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Even though not my favorite (2nd favorite!), it's probably the best anime on this list. Progresses so quickly, but not at an overwhelming rate. Plot twists were excellent. Really memorable.

Trigun
Western anime with random futuristic elements. Really excellent animation, especially for its time.