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Last edited by kakitamike on Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:29 am; edited 1 time in total

Looking between the following 3 series to purchase; Solty Rei, My-Hime and Eureka Seven.

Some of my favorite series include; Elemental Gelade, Love Hina, Excel Saga, Samurai 7, Cowboy Bebop, Chobits, Azumanga Daioh.

Series I dislike include Ikki Tousen, Serial Experiament Lain, Otogi Zoshi and Dragonball Z.

Storyline / Plot is probably the most important aspect to me, followed closely by the quality of animation. I enjoy fan service, but there needs to be a story to go along with it.

So, any suggestions based on that?

EDIT: And I apologize for asking for a recommendation. When I first saw the title of the sticky post, I thought it was like a scavenger hunt game or something.

Probably My-Hime. It starts off with comedy, has lots of nice character. The story is not very developed in the first episodes, but slowly sets itself up. Then episodes 16-24 are a blast.

Great characters, good action, some fanservice, nice story, nice character development. There is just a little too much fanservice in 2-3 episodes. Also the Magical girl theme might get cheesy.

Eureka seven is kinda nice too. Good characters, good, long story. It'll cost you more than My-Hime though.

The animation is about as good in both animes, the characters are nicer in My-Hime, but the action is better in Eureka 7. Both have nice stories Smile

It would help if you explained a bit more as to why these 3 shows grab your attention and why the shows you listed are some of your favorites. It's hard to make a good detailed suggestion with what you've told us so far. All 3 shows you listed are good shows IMO but if you can only afford (s in money or due to lack of time available) one series at the moment I'd go with either Mai Hime or Eureka Seven. I wouldn't go far Solty Rei because it's not done releasing yet so you wouldn't be able to watch it all right now, If that's not an issue with you then you might want to check it out. Overall I would chose Eureka Seven because I think the plot and story are delivered just a bit better then Mai Hime. Both get serious later on during the series but I think Eureka Seven just carries it that notch further and has a bit more depth to it. The almost double series length also helps that fact and since you said plot is the most important part to you Eureka Seven will serve that role very well. If you wanted the show to be shorter and a bit more cutsy with more comedy and fanservice then go with Mai Hime'.

Actually, I disagree on what to recommend to him. You gotta go for Eureka 7 here I think. My-Hime is rather fanservicy in the first third (which naturally has nothing to do with the plot 99% of the time), and while the show starts off strong (like with a badass first episode)... the story line falters pretty badly at points if you ask me.

Eureka 7 on the other hand is objectively a much better show, with beautiful animation, a cool world with atmosphere, and a plot that goes slowly and takes its time to go in depth and develop itself, but never feels lethargic like Lain does. The one and biggest problem with the show is the main character... what a freaking wuss. I absolutely detested him for the first half and merely tolerated him for the second, in spite of how much I hated him I couldn't help but get drawn into the show at times.

I loved My-Hime in its own way, and I probably enjoyed it more overall than E7, as it was a great fluffy show at first that was just a joy to watch on every level. However the last third of the show just irritated me on how forced everything seemed, as I've said in other threads. If you're looking for quality storytelling though, this probably isn't your show. I guess the best way to look at it is that My-Hime is character driven, while E7 is atmosphere and plot driven.

I have to disagree with selenta here, and recommend My-Hime in favor of Eureka 7. Even objectively I think it's hard to say that one is better than the other; both shows are pretty strong but highly exhibit each of the respective studios' primary faults. My-Hime's ending was tremendously weak (spoiler[An incredibly cheesy "bring them all back to life" ending with just about no explanation whatsoever and made no sense], while Eureka 7's pacing was all over the place (spoiler[Some character development took much longer than necessary to occur IMO, too slow-paced at rather odd times, entire plot takes too long to develop]). Admittedly Eureka 7's animation was better, but that's counterbalanced by the fact that Mai-Hime has an excellent soundtrack while E7's was nothing to write home about. I've watched through all of Mai-Hime twice, and I never felt that the character development was forced during the latter half. It was true that spoiler[their personality suddenly took a complete turn, but it to me just showed what their true nature was under desperation and what lengths they were willing to go to (or not go to) to protect their loved ones, and how they are able or not able to maintain their friendships under pressure.]

As for the early part of both series...Mai-hime took a good 10/26 episodes before it really started to move; E7 took even more but gets more leeway since it's nearly double the length. Overall, in terms of enjoyment, I enjoyed Mai-Hime much, much more and felt like I really couldn't get into E7 by the middle. IMO Hime's plot is stronger and more suspenseful, but judging from the series you like, you'd probably enjoy both.

Last edited by Ryvius213 on Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:56 am; edited 1 time in total

I'd second Eureka Seven, although the series does start off slowly. The first half of the series or so is mostly about character development, which eventually leads to solid plot development. I haven't seen Mai-Hime yet, but you'll have to be a bit patient with Eureka Seven, IMO.

EDIT: Grammar error...because I like to be perfect. Embarassed

On a small side note I'd want to say Solty Rei is a good show as well but without it all being out yet it's very hard to make a complete opinion on it as opposed to Eureka and Mai Hime'. It could get better or worse being only 2/3 of the way through. Though it does have Chris Sabat's deep sultry voice which is a big plus. Yes I know I'm a guy but damn if his voice aint hot. He's the Barry White of the anime world. Wink

I would be wary of Solty Rei, (A) because it's produced by Studio Gonzo who is notorious for developing eye candy series only to manage to screw up many of them in some mysterious "Gonzo way" that would've been unthinkable by your average viewer's standards, and (B) because it was the show that caused my friend to go into an angry tangent about how the show could've been so much better and how Gonzo completely screwed it up.

Just approach all Gonzo titles with caution. Ask around, get a lot of opinions, especially from people who have watched the entire thing.

Eureka is the more superior one. Once you get to the 11th episode, the series only picks up. It would have been in my top anime if I had time to watch it in its entirety.

Thanks for all the feedback. The series I like all had strong storylines (imo, anyway) and a good mix of comedy thrown in to.

Didn't like Tousen because it seemed so pointless, like fan service just for the sake of fan service with a horrible plot. DBZ just looks ugly as sin to me. And Serial experiment lain, just didn't make any sense.

I was originally going to buy My-Hime, but was reading the manga, and it seems to leave a bunch of plot points unexplained and just assumes you're along for the ride.

So that's why I had some backup considerations.

Do NOT base the Mai-Hime anime off the manga. Although the concept is similar, they are two completely different stories with the same characters. The manga is a raunchier, harem-esque styled form that makes Yuuichi the main character instead of Mai. In the anime, there is far less fanservice and naughty parts, Mai is the main focal point of the show, and a couple characters act completely different than the way they do in the manga.

The manga isn't bad, it's a semi-cute, dirty series that you can enjoy a bit of eye candy about. However, for true in your face action, well-developed plot and truly three-dimensional characters, go with the Mai-Hime anime.

Of those three, I've seen My-HiME and Eureka Seven.

My-HiME has an excellent first half, but the second half wasn't nearly as good. I also thought the ending was kind of silly, and don't even get me started on the annoying fanservice. Plus, the dub isn't necessarily one to rave about. It's not a bad dub, I just didn't particularly care for it as much as I would have liked (although I did like it enough to watch the entire series dubbed). Overall, I still enjoyed the series, but it's not worth buying due to some grating annoyances I had with the series.

Eureka Seven, on the other hand, is a superb series. It's the superior series by far in my opinion. In fact, it easily makes my top 25 favorite anime of all time. The animation is great, the characters are relatively easy to like and relate to (I can relate to Renton quite a bit), and to top it all off, there isn't much of an underlying plot, which seems to fit this series quite nicely. I didn't particularly like the dub at first (mainly because I didn't like Johnny Bosch sounded as Renton), but it's since grown on me greatly. I think of it as a coming of age story, and it's quite a good one at that. I highly recommend it.

While I haven't seen Solty Rei, I will agree with frentymon's warning to to approach it with caution. There are some exceptions (namely Last Exile and Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, my two favorite Gonzo titles), but most Gonzo titles end up being "style over substance" in the end.

Having seen all 3 series... My personal pick is Eureka Seven. Guns, Robots, and Babes! How can you go wrong with that? It also has an amazing story to go with it. The art work of the show is something not to forget to mention. It is simple superb!

Although I'm enjoying all three of these series, they do feel like they are targeting different audiences.

The fifth Solty Rei DVD is actually really good, but I didn't care for the first two DVDs as much. I will say that this series has become surprisingly good. I really can't wait for the last volume. There are elements of this series which I feel speaks to us older fans especially compared to the other two series. I love shows about unconventional families like Heat Guy J, and Zone of the Enders although they seem to not fit the general demographic here,

I have seen the entire series of My-Hime and will agree that it is a very inconsistent series. I for one don't think I rate the series as highly as most people here. The series feels targeted to people who love Final Fantasy X2. I also love the S-Cry-Ed comparison that was mentioned in another thread. The series comes off like a video game (especially those fighting games) to me. I will agree with those that like the second half of this series better than the first. I'm having a hard time enjoying the first volume of My Otome.

I have the 8th Eureka Seven DVD sitting on my shelf right now. There is something about this series that seems hip and cool. Because of this the series often feels like it is aimed towards teens who listen to iPods and have skateboards. Although there is nothing wrong with this I can relate with Roy from Solty a bit more. Despite this the show is still really entertaining, and I think it is your best bet. Eureka Seven feels like the newer shonen styled Bones which can also be seen in Mars Daybreak and Fullmetal Alchemist.

If anyone really pays attention to my fangirlin' posts you know im going to say Eureka 7. It's not ALL about the mechs. It has a great love story, action story and military story all in one. Great soundtrack, great supporting characters and the main character Renton is NOT SHINJI! Although he just seems like a whiny angsty teen at the begining he does...GET THINGS DONE WHEN NEEDED!

Why this series is worth it....sooo many episodes to list why. In short....its a BUY!

Solty Rei based on the first Vol I liked. But i didn't see farther than that so I can't say much. My hime....well I don't know anything about besides the facts its popular and it has girls. I never like the character designs though.

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