Forum - View topicold school anime hound seeks new school help!
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Monobiker
Posts: 11 Location: New Orleans, LA |
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A little preface if you will:
I'm 26 and have been watching anime since spacekateers force 5, Grandizer, Goldwing and Robotech came on tv. (if anyone remembers those feel free to shout out, i feel soooo old) I have stuck with the genre for a long time. I am NOT an otaku or whatever by any means, however i feel i can say with some conviction that anime has opened a lot of doors and can be one of the most expressive mediums out there. I lost ALL of my anime in hurricane Katrina. I am looking to get new anime to watch, and need to branch out to newer things. I would like to start by prefacing this with some things i have seen and loved in anime, and i hope either to discuss those issues to flesh them out, or make a recommendation to me based on my examples of amazing anime moments- heck, criticize them, i wanna yalk about them. Things i like a TON: 1) Intelligent plot: Ghost in the Shell in any iterration, be it in the series (I've seen both) or the two movies. Here's why: extreme depth of ideas and very intelligent plot lines. Innonocence exploded with philosophical insight and the tv shows, even as such themselves being tv shows were extremely deep and thought provoking. The depth of the idea of losing oneself and what is a soul. spectacular depth of plot. I love it. Another positive example of depth of plot, then i will follow with negatives: Cowboy bebop episode 1 : I admit it, cowboy bebop was amazing and one of a kind, however, the first episode, specifically, eased into a very deep, yet action and plot driven story line with layer upon layer of double meaning and alliteration. The girl being "preganant with the drugs" etc. I dont want to be too wordy here. Negatives: Boring, word driven non action filled plot progression - specifically i am not asking for action like the genre, but simply something going on. When the characters have to stop to have a little story or explain what should be going on so you "get it" is just poor writing skill and style nothing more nothing less. (IMO) example: I am going to draw on the negative here, and i preface this with I LIKED THIS ANIME - however it is NOT what i am looking for - now and then, here and there or whatever. There was a LOT of exposition in the film. I understand it was necessary and still enjoyed the work, however i think the tell of a GREAT story from one that is simply ok or good but not executed well is the ability to have a mostly action driven plot. I know I'm not 100% correct with this also, but i wanted a well known example. 2) Subject matter, not necessarily cohesion i point to Pioneer's release of legend of the dog warriors, a spectacular multi faceted yet feeling incomplete story line. It felt like what it was supposed to (a fairy tale of sorts), without being linear and i think i respected it more for that. Negative subject matter: Gantz - i bought this dvd set on a whim at best buy because the premise sounded good. however, the obsessiveness with sex, poor taste humor and the like in it got on my nerves. i am going to get the second set, and i liked it, but it wasn't near my top ten list. I don't like the references in my anime, in fact i usually steer clear from them. Ranma 1/2, Project A-ko, not unfunny, unclever or animes that bored me or that i did not enjoy, but not great at times because of their reliance on what i saw as some of this tasteless subject matter. I hope I have laid out some of my likes and dislikes to you guys wihtout being overly verbose, and maybe raising questions that can be asked too. I am grateful to anyone that wishes to converse about anime, and what would be something good for me to watch. I understand you guys get METRIC TONS of these requests, and am grateful for the chance for discourse. Sincerely, Monobiker VENUS WARS! C'MON! |
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morsmaestro
 Posts: 172 Location: Sacramento |
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For an intelligent series, I would suggest Haibane Renmei. It's a very deep, thought-provoking, dramatic work of art. It's my favorite, and its absolutely beautiful. Not only that, it is truly art in that there's something the creator (Yoshitoshi ABe) is saying, also which he leaves largely up to debate--I still haven't figured it out completely. It was so dramatic, I cried every episode from the sixth one on. With the deepest characters I have ever seen in any work of fiction, it deals with human nature and explores the depth of the human soul. A slightly slow start, but it picks up to become action-filled (by your definition). I found it amazing that productions can exist without any sex or violence, but Haibane Renmei pulled it off, and is easily the best anime I have ever seen. No, best work of art period, that I have ever seen.
BTW there are tons of threads on it, just do a search. A quote from a suggestion thread I wrote:
Also, for a good story, in case you're one of the people who actually haven't seen it, Fullmetal Alchemist. This is totally different from Haibane Renmei; It's a darker series with lots of well-executed plot twists and turns. A lot of character growth and revelation. It does focus on the darker aspects of society, such as corrupt governments, inhumane scientific research, secret societies, religious persecution, etc., but it is extremely good. Not a whole lot of exposition; it describes the world and society along with the plot. In fact, the view of the society is directly dependent upon revelations within the plot. It's definitely one of the more popular 'newschool' anime, so there are tons of topics on it as well. In the thread "Why does everyone think Full Metal Alchemist is so good?":
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Monobiker
Posts: 11 Location: New Orleans, LA |
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much obliged! I willd efinitely look into it!
And i got recommended another recently by a friend, it is paranoia agent i believe, how do you feel about that one? |
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morsmaestro
Posts: 172 Location: Sacramento |
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Paranoia Agent; Oh boy. When I saw this airing, I couldn't get a good grasp of what was going on. It's really psychological, and definitely an intelligent series, but I could only get through two episodes without my brain exploding. Albeit I did start somewhere in the middle...
I could tell it was a really dark series, kind of freaky. Who knows, you might like it. But someone else nees to elaborate on this, since I don't know much about it. |
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RDespair
 Posts: 245 Location: California |
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I think Gunslinger Girl might be something you'd like. The action scenes are intense, but the focus of the series is on the relationships between these children assassins and their adult caretakers. Powerful stuff.
Haibane Renmei is superb, although the pace is rather slow. I haven't seen all of Paranoia Agent, but I liked what I saw. |
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undeadben
 Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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Hi there, youngster.
I recently started watching Cowboy Bebop as well and have also been caught up in the symbolisms and hidden meanings, and also that very 80’s feel that the series seems to have and is backed up by much of the music and plot devices. Ok, moving on to the topic… I’m not otaku either or as well versed in anime as what most here seem to be, but based on your original post, I think you might enjoy some of these, although some are not new. Gankutsuou - I was afraid of watching this series because I really enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo, both the novel and the movie and I wasn't sure what to think about watching a futuristic series based on the story; however every episode drew me in deeper and deeper. I felt it was very clever in the way it was put together and there was enough action in it so that it never became dialogue driven and stale. Pet Shop of Horrors - This is a four episode story that is very unique. The first thing I thought when I started watching this was that it would be absolutely absurd, and it was, but it did it in a way that fascinated me. The sad tales with the struggling characters and very creative depictions of mythical or mystical creatures was very interesting. Witch Hunter Robin - This is a story that I had to have patience for. The first few episodes were interesting but not much more so than other unrelated series, however once I got past a certain point and the main story arc started coming into focus for me, I found I could not turn my attention away for too long. A bit of a warning about the ending, well at least from my own taste, but the journey in itself was well worth keeping up with the story. Here's a wild card- The Rumiko Takahashi Anthology (season 1 of Rumic's Theatre) - Many people would say that they prefer season 2, Mermaid Forest, which I found to be interesting as well, however I think this short 13 episode showcase is one of the gems to come from the manga of Rumiko Takahashi. I'll let you know, in case this turns you away from it, that there is very little action, and is actually very character and dialogue driven, but is never dull. There are 13 separate stories about amazing things that happen in otherwise ordinary lives, and sometimes just the extraordinary of what our minds can imagine in what would seem to be a normal existence. Some of the stories are very subtle and sweet, and yet some can be quite eerie. Well enough of my ramblings, if you are interested you can look them up here as well. |
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Monobiker
Posts: 11 Location: New Orleans, LA |
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thanks again for an awesome list of suggestions! makes my day, thank you for your time making the responses! i will definitely look into them in the encyclopedia and check em out!
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W3b3r
Posts: 59 Location: Australia |
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after reading your likes i might dare to suggest full metal panic: the second raid. its not as serious as gits as it includes people of high school age, but it has character develpoment and a main story that kept me glued to the screen. just as a warning it is a robot anime. it is far more serious and adult oreintated than the others in the full metal panic group.
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teferi
 Posts: 400 |
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well TSR was aimed at seinen so it better be more serious O_o
and it'd probably be better to start of with the first season ... especially because fansubsa nd bootlegs aside TSR isn't available yet... Altho one I just watched recently was Requiem from the Darkness. I'd say it's somewhat intelligent. Just about every episode is exploring some kind of moral dilemma ... and no it's not liike say Gundam SEED where they go all angsty... it's a horror series -but it keeps to (asian) traditional-ish based horror stories but the twist si that usually behind the stories is some kind of morally depraved person who gets punished by mataichi and his gang. oh and the art and japanese voice acting are amazing (japanese voice acting being already generally good they took it up a notch with this series IMO ). The art is just so stylistic and fits the horror mood very well ( theres a CG ocean near the end that everyone complains about but it didn't bother me.) Only problem is it's pretty episodic until the end(of the 13 ep series) where they tried to develop a 3 episode plot but it came off awkwardly. That aside it's definitely worth buying if not at least renting. |
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W3b3r
Posts: 59 Location: Australia |
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Reason i didn't suggest the first series was that it is definitly seinen. TSR hasn't been released yet but that also means you can download fansubs that are still legal. Well in my country they are until the anime becomes available here anyway. 
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hanachan01
 Posts: 504 |
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It seems some one said FMA before me, but I'll add something to it. If you like the aniem, I'd also check out the manga. The anime is very good, however, I prefer the manga. I'd say about episode 15/chapter 25 is when differences betwwen the naime and manga start appearind, though a few chapters later is when it gets really different. The manga came first, by the way.
Monster is another amazing series. Granted, I haven't seen the anime yet, but I am a fan of the manga. However, the aniem has yet to be liscensed. However, the manga is being released by Viz Media. It is a dark, adult series that is unique from all of the other naime and manga being released. |
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GMan636
 Posts: 8 |
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I would also agree that Monster has one of the best plots in any show period that I have ever seen. Every episode keeps you wanting to watch more and more to see what exactly is going to happen next.
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