Forum - View topicNeed anime suggestions...
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sylex
Posts: 19 |
|
||
|
These forums seem to be very knowledgeable about anime in general. I've recently come to a loss in terms of what series to watch next, be it new or old, so I would appreciate some suggestions.
A few examples of anime that I have come to like include Chobits, Shakugan no Shana, and RahXephon. I guess the reason that I enjoyed these was because they presented dynamic, memorable characters who, by the end of the series, had grown either mentally or emotionally into something more than they had been in the first few episodes. Another thing that appealed to me was a slice-of-life aspect that was set, although the anime may have be inherently science fiction or fantasy, in the context of a world that was either identical, similar, or easily relatable to the real world. For example, the locales presented in Chobits and Shakugan no Shana, although both series were obviously sci-fi or fantasy, had sights, sounds, and social dynamics that were so close to those of the real world that they seemed much more "real", in a sense. I don't know any better way to articulate this, so I apologize for any confusion. Action, comedy, and/or memorable music are definitely pluses as well, but not as important, so along these lines I also enjoyed series such as Mahoromatic, Fate/Stay-night, Love Hina (although the manga much more so than the anime), and Scrapped Princess. All of these also had strong, well-developed, characters and perhaps to a lesser extent that same slice-of-life aspect I'm probably failing miserably at properly describing. I'd also like to stress that although I do not mind fan service or ecchi content, I am not specifically looking for it in anime and find that anything more than a modest amount of it detracts from my enjoyment in general. I realize that almost all of the series that I mentioned above have fan service or ecchi content, but that wasn't what made me like them. Thanks for any assistance. |
|||
|
|||
|
opaquescum
Posts: 235 |
|
||
|
Well I would say if you are looking for series with a good bit of slice of life. Then the following series might be good for you.
Fruits Basket. A very light hearted series that revolves around a girl that falls in with a family, but the twist is the family has a dreadful curse that turns them into animals anytime they are stressed, or get hugged by the opposite sex. The music is excellent, and the characters are very well flushed out. They have quirks, and behave in their own unique ways. The characters at time can be cute, and the storyline is pretty nice. Only problem is once your done with the series you want more. Please Teacher. While the description of the series is highschool student falls in love, and marries his teacher. The series does not come off as truely indecent. Once again loveable characters, and a nice little love story. The series often has a real sitcom feal to it. Where the characters are trying to avoid socially embarassing situations. Once again a very good soundtrack. I bought the boxset, and it comes with the soundtrack on CD. Please Twins. From the same people who brought you teacher more of the same. You really need to watch teacher first. The series is basically about three orphans that fall in together. They have similar features, and they know two of them are twins, and thus related the third is a stranger. Two girls in one boy. To put it bluntly they both develope the hots for the boy, but nobody dares to do anything, because that would be creepy. Very solid music, and like the prequel its light hearted. Crest of the stars/Banner of the stars. This is more of a science fiction series, but delves a little deeper into human psychology. Drop two young adults into a interstellar war, and find as they develope a very special bond. The female character plays the straight man. While the male character plays the knucklehead. It is actually a refreshing twist similar to chobbits. The series is more methodical, and slow then the above, but it has its great moments. I hope these suggestions help. |
|||
|
|||
|
Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6900 Location: Kazune City |
|
||
|
If slice-of-life interests you, check out this thread from awhile back. One anime mentioned on that thread that I recently finished up is Figure 17, which features the growth and evolution of Tsubasa, a shy elementary school girl who through a series of sci-fi incidents finds herself with a "twin," Hikaru. There are numerous battles with evil aliens, but Tsubasa's character development is just as important. Don't let "13 episodes on 6 discs" scare you; its episodes are 45 minutes long, so it has as much content as a 26-episode series. As a bonus, F17 has absolutely nothing fanservice, etchi, or loli. (Thanks to Keonyn for some initial info and recommendation of this series to me.)
|
|||
|
|||
|
Tsunade-sama
SPAMMER
Posts: 4 |
|
||
|
I think you should probably watch the Following: DragonBall,Z,orGT.That show is full of action.(I dont want to explain them to you because it will ruin the fun in watching them.)Full Metal Alchemist It's a really great show.For shure you will like naruto If you do want me to explain them for you just send me a message, and the best place to watch anime is youtube.com.Have you been there? If you want to view english episodes for Full Metal Alchemist or naruto try searching english dub,and don't worry i'ts totally safe!
[EDIT: I have notified the poster, please don't report this post anymore. -TK] |
|||
|
|||
|
frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
|
||
|
Based on the many titles you have listed, I would guess that you also value plotline in addition to strong character development and slice-of-life in a sci-fi fantasy setting. Based on your description alone, I would have given you a lot of slow-moving & reflective type anime (Haibane Renmei, Zettai Shounen, Kino's Journey). All have strong character development, are set in a realistic setting with fantasy elements, and are reflective and give you something to think about. Many people dislike this kind of anime and dismiss it as slow-moving and boring, but there's just as many people on the other side of the spectrum.
For some faster paced series: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu: You've probably heard of this one, but it doesn't hurt to mention it anyway. Very strong character developments (especially where you least expect it), and a wacky and very fun twist to an otherwise normal school-life anime with an eccentric female lead. Plus, the animation is godly and the music is great as well. There's *some* fanservice, but it only enhances the plot instead of detracting from it. Midori no Hibi: Pretty much one fantasy twist to an otherwise relatively normal school-life anime. Very enjoyable to watch, and moving at times as well. Great character development, as the characters learn to adjust to their situation and are able to change as a result. Some fanservice, but doesn't take away too much from the plot. Twelve Kingdoms: Takes place in an ancient Chinese-type setting (in the series, a parallel world from ours), and the world is so vast and is revealed and described in such a detailed and extensive manner that you can't help but be drawn into it and feel as if you were in it. Very good character development too, as the main character Yoko learns to face challenges and accept responsibility. Great music too, fits right into the setting. |
|||
|
|||
selenta
 Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
|
||
|
I would like to second the Twelve Kingdoms recommendation for one. If you're looking for character development here's a few that seem to fit (nearly all of these are shounen/shoujo titles as these combine the character development and many of the other things you listed):
Twelve Kingdoms: The biggest and only complaint I have with this show is that it's only 45 episodes, one of the best by any standards. Fantasy-shoujo genre. Hunter X Hunter: It's an unliscensed show here in the US, but is one of the best shows ever made (for the record, HxH is #4 and Twelve Kingdoms is #5 on my list for best ever). The animation quality is low at first but quickly picks up. If you watch this show, quite a few of the characters will undoubtably be among your favorites. Shounen genre. FMA: If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend it to anyone. There's enough hype out there about this one though that I don't need to say anything more. Eureka 7: Though it is not my personal favorite, I highly highly respect this anime. It is a little less realistic in the setting for the world than the shows you mentioned, but the way it is dealt with is possibly far more realistic most of the time. It took me a long time to really get into this show, but I'd recommend you at least check it out. Shounen romance adventure genre. |
|||
|
|||
Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
|
||
|
I suggest checking out:
Planetes-Revolves arround a crew of EVA space workers and their new recruit Ai Tanabe. Excellent cast of characters, great storylines, and impressive visuals. One of the best series to come out last year, I'd highly recomend it. Infinite Ryvius-After a solar phenomonon has devestated the Earth and left a sea of plasma in the system cadets learn to navigate arround it at the Lieba Delta space station. However, in an act of sabotage the station plummets into the Sea of Geddalt and the instructors are all killed sacrificing themselves to detach sections of the station and save the students. Stranded, the 200+ students must learn to work and live togather and find a way home, in addition their mysterious adversary hasn't give up yet. Tempers flare, romance blossoms, aliances are made and broken in this complex character driven sci-fi series. Witch Hunter Robin-Witches are those humans that have developed abnormal powers such as telekenisis and the STN was formed to deal with crimes commited by these individuals. When Robin is transfered to Japan's STNJ branch to replace one of their members who was killed she finds they do things a little differently and she must ajust to her new surroundings and co-workers. Robin is one of the organizations special hunters and a craft user with the power of pyrokenisis. |
|||
|
|||
|
Kelly
Posts: 868 Location: New York City |
|
||
I also enthusiastically recommend Fruits Basket, but I wouldn't exactly call it very lighthearted. It's more of a dramedy than a comedy. Half of it is very funny indeed, but Hatori's backstory and the last three episodes are pretty dark, spoiler[and Momiji's backstory is quietly devestating and turned out to quite possibly be the most tragic sequence I've seen in an anime so far that didn't involve a death, all the more because like Tohru he keeps his pain to himself, so we only got a slight hint during his big "Foolish Traveller" scene that he'd been through something so traumatic and didn't really see it coming. ] Tohru's backstory and the reason why Yuki is at Shigure's aren't exactly cause for laughfests either. And as you mentioned, new viewers need to be warned that you have to read the manga to really find out how all the storylines end... |
|||
|
|||
Hisdon
 Posts: 411 Location: Poquoson, VA |
|
||
|
~edited cause I fail at internet~
Last edited by Hisdon on Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:21 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|||
|
|||
|
selenta
Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
|
||
|
Absolutely not, why do people always do this? It's one thing to recommend your favorite anime, but for the love of god listen to what they say and at least acknowledge the differences between what you recommend and what they say they like (since we have to assume they ONLY like shows like the ones they mention unless they say otherwise). Lain is NOTHING like the shows that the OP suggested, if you want to recommend it, wait for someone that says they like deep thinking animes that border on the occult.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Hisdon
Posts: 411 Location: Poquoson, VA |
|
||
after re-reading his 2nd paragraph, I relized I misread it and I'll edit my post |
|||
|
|||
Kidder
 Posts: 188 Location: Bat country! >.< |
|
||
|
hmmmm... Slice-of-life with a hint of sci-fi... that's a tuffy...
The best one I can think of is Noein. The character designs and art are very different from you'll normally see, but IMHO it suits the series perfectly. The show uses inter-dimensional travel as it's main plot (not like Tsubasa Chronicles, but much more detailed and "scientific" as opposed to magical) and there is a lot of techincal jargon mixed in with dialogue when they talk specifically about multi-dimensional space and different worlds. Most of the information is accurate and the enthusiastic could do a lot of background reading if they wanted to. I'm not very good at writing synopsis' without giving away spoilers, so it's best you check the ANN synopsis. There are episodes that are fairly slice-of-life (dealing with family relationships and friendship) especially during the beginning episodes of the series, but as more of the plot is revealed the show becomes much more sci-fi. The animation is superb (just watch the first 5 minutes of the first ep  ) and the characters and story are interesting and captivating. Some might not like the character designs, but I suggest you watch the first episode or find some screenshots and judge for yourself.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Sylex
Posts: 19 |
|
||
|
Thanks for all of the replies. They were very helpful, and I never thought there would be this many. I've been looking at the encylopedia entries for all of these recommended series and I must say almost all of them look very much like my cup of tea. You guys sure are good.
Are there any at all with a fantasy/magic theme, such as Shakugan no Shana and Fate/stay-night? I know Twelve Kingdoms and Fruits Basket were two that were mentioned, but the vast majority of these recommendations seem to be sci-fi, which is fine, but the fantasy genre is quite entertaining as well. Right now I'm watching Someday's Dreamers, which I somewhat like for its animation and premise, but its plot doesn't strike me as actually going anywhere, so I'm back to square one until I go pick up some of these recommendations to watch. |
|||
|
|||
|
selenta
Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
|
||
|
Another good fantasy show? Hmm. It doesn't QUITE have the character development of the others, but Scrapped Princess is a very solid show I doubt you would regret watching it. you're right though, fantasy is a surprisingly underused genre, probably because sci-fi is a lot easier and simpler to understand and create. I wish there were more really good fantasy shows out there, a bad fantasy usually seems to be worse than a bad sci-fi, but a good fantasy show just holds almost unlimited potential (there's only so much you can do with mechs
 )
Gisdon, I'm not trying to say you "fail at the internet" you just did what a large large number of people do: let your personal zealous-ness (wth would be the right word there?) for a show get out of hand and recommend it where it doesn't fit. ex. "How are you doing today?" "I like toothpaste!" (well, something like that anyway) |
|||
|
|||
|
Kruszer
Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
|
||
There's: Fullmetal Alchemist-Which is a fairly popular title at the moment and should be easy to find. After their mother dies two boys learn Alchemy and use a forbidden transmutation to try and bring her back. They fail...and badly, paying a high price. Edward loses an arm and leg and his little brother Alphose loses his entire body, only clinging to life as a Soul sealed by blood into a metal suit of Armour. The boys attempt to be State Alchemists for the millitary while searching for the legendary Philosopher's Stone which may be able to help them correct their mistakes. Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight-An older title but still highly entertaining. It has a sort of Lord of the Rings feel to it, Knights, swordfighting, Elves, magic, dragons, an epic nation hopping quest, etc. |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group