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Science Fiction anime recommendations.


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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
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Joined: 14 Aug 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:41 pm Reply with quote
This thread will be for any and all science fiction recommendations. Here's is the summary for science fiction as being used in encyclopedia.

Quote:

science fiction (spaceships, aliens, future technology)
The plot or setting is based on imagined future science or technology. Sometimes the advanced technology is only used as a source of cool gadgets but sometimes the story will explore in depth the effect of such technological changes on human behavior and society. Note that merely being set in the future is not enough to make a story science fiction.


I'll leave more well known titles for others to mention and will instead recommend 2 older titles I happen to love. Both titles I got on vhs back in the day and were 2 of the first anime series I bought for myself.

Martian Successor Nadesico--- This show is about young chef in training Akito who winds up on the battle ship Nadesico after a run in with old acquaintance Yurika. He signs on as a cook but finds himself piloting some kick ass mechs. This series is full of good ole mech action against bad ass aliens. There's some comedy and a touch of romance thrown into the mix but at the heart this show is about mechs, aliens, and action. The animation quality may not be as spiffy by today's standards but remember this show is pushing 10 years old. The dubbing was also pretty solid on this title.

Bubblegum Crisis OVA (& BGC 2040 tv)--- The original BGC dates back to the 80's with 2040 clocking in at about the same age as Nadesico. The basis behind both versions is Japan has suffered a massive earthquake. From the ashes rises Genom, a successful corporation. They create and market biomechanical robots called Boomers. Think of them as robot servants, much like in the movie I.Robot with will smith. Only they have some biological components to them. Well like the I.Robot some of the robots start causing trouble. The special police forces are unable to stop them. In come the Knight Sabers. Women in kick ass mechanical fighting suits who eliminate the rogue boomers. This show, especially the 2040 tv version, is gritty and a bit dark. There's many suspenseful moments and lots of action. The ladies kick ass in their suits and as the plot unfolds it gets darker and more serious. Another show, like Nadesico, that for it's time had good animation but 2040 I think had a very good dub (better then Nadesico) and the soundtrack was awesome. If you like techno or electronic beats the OST is a must buy. While not a masterpiece (either versions) the show is a good solid science fiction show with some good action. Even a slight touch of awkward romance. The coolest aspect of this show is in the 2040 tv series the VA for the characters Priss (Christine Auten) did all of the singing herself for Priss's character (she is the lead singer of a rock band) in the show.
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jetz



Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 2148
Location: Manila, Philippines
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:58 pm Reply with quote
Vandread - Set in a time and place where men and women separated (apparently the men in that story are convinced that women are monsters who'll eat their innards) but are soon forced to co-habit with each other and fight aliens who are out to get humans. Vandread is actually a mix of Sci-fi and comedy, which is great for viewers like me who aren't really into watching sci-fi.

Gate keepers - About a group of teenagers known as the Gate Keepers who try to protect the Earth from "Invaders". The Gate Keepers have the ability to generate gates that they can use to defeat the invaders. Invaders are sort of like aliens who take over human bodies, and these invaders plot to end the world. Like Vandread, Gate Keepers also has elements of comedy, maybe even romance, so it's not entirely Sci-fi.


Last edited by jetz on Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:16 pm; edited 1 time in total
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NocturnalUX



Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 448
Location: Portugal
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:15 pm Reply with quote
Ergo Proxy
Dystopia at its best: in the future mankind has come to depend on robots for almost every task. When a virus starts to infect machines and giving them a sense of self and a strange creature wrecks havoc, the city of Romdeu, insofar kept stable by a totalitarian regime, is shaken. The premise might seem a bit too generalistic to hold much interest but the series manages to be very inventive due to its complex meanderings into philosophical ground even as it unfolds a plot that is solid for the most part. It follows Real, a citizen of Romdeu; Vincent, an immigrant who holds a secret; and Pino a robot who is self aware, as they search for the truth about their world.
A very dark and sombre colour scheme provide a fresh visual experience that is often more realistic than fantastical. Very intringuing is a bit confusing at times, Ergo Proxy should appeal to those who enjoy brainy sci-fi in the vein of Aldous Huxley or Isaac Asimov.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:23 pm Reply with quote
NocturnalUX: I believe its spelled Re-l (and pronounced more like re-el rather than real)
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Aromatic Grass



Joined: 31 Dec 2003
Posts: 2424
Location: Raleigh, NC
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:28 pm Reply with quote
ikillchicken wrote:
I believe its spelled Re-l (and pronounced more like re-el rather than real)

Actually, both are right. I think it depends on your point of view, but I prefer "Real" because of its meaning. There's an episode where it shows how Re-l can be turned into ReAl.
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NocturnalUX



Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 448
Location: Portugal
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:44 pm Reply with quote
Aromatic Grass wrote:
ikillchicken wrote:
I believe its spelled Re-l (and pronounced more like re-el rather than real)

Actually, both are right. I think it depends on your point of view, but I prefer "Real" because of its meaning. There's an episode where it shows how Re-l can be turned into ReAl.


I prefer "Real" as well for the same reason. At any rate, I took the spelling from ANN's entry. It is true that it is pronounced as re-el, though.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18458
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:47 pm Reply with quote
The subtitles and credits of the official release have it as "Re-l," so that's what I consider official. The rest of that debate is just a matter of getting picky.

Back on subject:

Planetes - One of the ultimate examples of "hard" sci fi, it takes a look at a late 21st century future where the heroes of the story are a team of space debris collectors above Earth - in one sense, the sci-fi equivalent of garbage men/women. One of the best sci fi series for adherence to laws of physics and technical detail, it also tells a good story featuring interesting (if sometimes annoying) characters.

Starship Operators - This 13-episode story focuses on a crew of space cadets who go rogue when they return from a shakedown mission for a new ship to discover their planet has been taken over. In need of a way to pay for their venture and resupply, they contract to turn their exploits into a reality show. Though a bit bland at times, you won't find a better series for exploring the tactics of space combat.

Crest/Banner of the Stars - Comprised of three series totaling 36 regular and one full-length bonus episode, these form a grand space epic about a distant future where a genetically engineered offshoot of humanity called the Abh has formed an interstellar empire entirely dedicated to controlling space travel. The story follows the exploits of Jinto, a young man who has become an Abh by dint of nobility, who forms a close relationship with the Abh princess Lafiel as they help each other escape various perils during a war and, later, serve as captain and bridge officer on the same combat ship. If you enjoy world-building exercises then there's a lot to like here, as the Abh people and culture is perhaps the most fully-developed sci fi race ever for anime; they even have their own meticulously-constructed language used in the series.

Fantastic Children - Widely overlooked, this grand tale of alien scientists continually reborn throughout the centuries as human children as they search for a lost princess spins a wonderfully complex and mature tale which belies the kiddified look. Unfortunately it's also saddled with one of the worst English dubs of the past few years, so watch it subbed regardless of your normal preference. Also make sure you watch the short bonus episode, which offers one of the most emotionally satisfying endings you'll ever see for an anime series.
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7994
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 12:09 am Reply with quote
Lets see some of my faves haven't been mentioned yet:

Infinite Ryvius-A Catastrophic solar phenomonon has left a sea of plasma covering the solar sytem and killed half of humanity. An act of deliberate sabotage by unknown parties has left the Astronaut Training Center Lieba Delta plumeting into the oddity known as the Sea of Gedault. As the gravitational foces begin to tear the station apart the instructors sacrifice themselves to purge parts of station and save the hundreds of Trainees in the process. With no adults left aboard the massive ammount of cadets must find a way to save themselves and return home. The senior cadets take charge and they stumble upon a secret the station carries that the government would kill every last one of them to cover up, a mysteriously powerful spacecraft. Now they are fugitives chased accross the solar system as they attempt to find some kind of a safe port, all the while pursued by their attackers and plauged by internal struggles as well.

Stratos4-When the danger of asteroids impacting Earth increases the Earth forms the Cosmic Emergency Managent Agency. It consists of two levels of Defense one is a network of Space stations with pilots who fly spacecraft known as Comet Blasters the other is Earth based and fly high speed fighter jets known as Meteor Sweepers. Mikaze is a tallented but disillusioned Meteor Sweeper cadet who along with her 3 friends is close to completing her training and being put on active duty. However, soon she finds her motivation and decides to excel so that one day she and her friends can become Comet Blasters. However, it is soon discovered that the deadly projectiles on their way to Earth may be more than they seem.
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UKfan



Joined: 27 Jun 2006
Posts: 280
Location: Manchester UK
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 4:13 am Reply with quote
Stellvia of the Universe

Life on Earth was nearly destroyed when the shockwave from a nearby supernova hit. Those who survived set up the foundations, a series of space stations in order to protect humanity from the second shockwave that was due 189 years later by initiating the Great Mission. The story focuses on the adventures of Shima Katase (Shipon) a young girl who gets the chance to learn at the Stellvia foundation, and her classmates, as the time for the second shockwave approaches. It's part high school story, part space adventure.
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arkady



Joined: 13 Feb 2007
Posts: 74
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:42 am Reply with quote
I don't really think that this description actually contains anything anyone could legitimately call a "spoiler," but just in case...

Eureka Seven - spoiler[Don't be fooled by the early episodes that make this series look like just another kewlsupermechakids-on-skateboards dumbfest. E7 is one of the best coming-of-age stories you'll ever see -- not to mention about the most intense romance to be found anywhere -- all set in a unique and fascinating future universe in which Humankind must share its world with a planetary intelligence known only as the Coral. Trouble is, no one's ever been able to communicate with the Coral, and an out-of-control oligarchical government wants to destroy it. Only the gang of renegade misfits known as Gekkostate has a chance of stopping them, and they're running out of time. Character development is intense, focusing on the naive hero-worshipping kid Renton Thurston and a mysterious lavender-eyed girl whose only name is Eureka. But as the many-layered secrets of Gekkostate, the Coral and the World Government itself are peeled away one by one, the various characters and their complex relationships reveal themselves for better or worse.]
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Lee1981



Joined: 17 Jul 2007
Posts: 109
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 1:03 pm Reply with quote
Blue Gender: Excellent 26-episode sci-fi anime with really good character development for the two main characters, Yugi and Marlene. Most of the supporting cast will end up dead within a few episodes or disappear never to be seen or heard from again (though they tend to last longer in the latter half of the series), but you will really care about what happens to the two main characters. The storyline on the surface might not seem to be much; a bunch of bug-like monsters take over the earth and humans need to fight to take it back; it might seem like a more serious and darker take on Starship Troopers, but its really more than that and it's done very well too. They do a really good job showing how the world and everyone who inhabits this world is affected by this situation, from the people on Second Earth, to the groups of people left behind to fend for themselves on Earth.
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Viga_of_stars



Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Posts: 1240
Location: Washington D.C. in the Anime Atelier
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 5:35 pm Reply with quote
Dominion tank police - Its set in a city where a poisonous fog looms ahead and crime is terrible. So they created the tank police. A new recruit Leona joins and builds a tank herself to use. What makes this a great series are the characters of the tank police and their unique way of crime fighting and interogation. It can be cross classfied as action and comedy but it has a lot of Sci fi elements in the first two episodes.
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar


Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16963
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:58 pm Reply with quote
Viga_of_stars wrote:
Dominion tank police - Its set in a city where a poisonous fog looms ahead and crime is terrible. So they created the tank police. A new recruit Leona joins and builds a tank herself to use. What makes this a great series are the characters of the tank police and their unique way of crime fighting and interogation. It can be cross classfied as action and comedy but it has a lot of Sci fi elements in the first two episodes.


Are you talking about the original Dominion tank police (like I assume you are) or the New Dominion Tank Police? Just want to be sure I'm thinking the right thing.
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Viga_of_stars



Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Posts: 1240
Location: Washington D.C. in the Anime Atelier
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 11:03 pm Reply with quote
psycho 101 wrote:
Are you talking about the original Dominion tank police (like I assume you are) or the New Dominion Tank Police? Just want to be sure I'm thinking the right thing.

Whoa I didn't know there was more! I guess the original with the spoiler[penis trap] scene. You know when they set those plastic plates thatspoiler[ turned into penises and tipped over the tanks]
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8501
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 11:16 pm Reply with quote
Shame on all of you for forgetting the 70s Leiji Matsumoto classic, Space Battleship Yamato. It is a must-see as far as science fiction anime are concerned. It is a dramatic, tense, and exciting program with interesting science fiction elements, some of which seem to be pioneering for later programs of its type, other elements not really working out so well, but just as entertaining. There's a great epic feel to its story and a sort of relieved bittersweet joy in its conclusion.

Some of the movies that follow are also excellent.
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