Hey, guys. I figured that, since there are bound to be a few anime fans out there, I'd start up my recommendation list. Since I know how much it sucks to wait for one episode per anime each week, I'll post some of my favorite anime shows here so that you don't have to wait to enjoy anime.
I'm going to try to stay away from mainstream anime and try to bring to light some of the smaller anime that are absolutely amazing. If I do make mention of a mainstream anime, it won't count as my weekly recommendation - it'll be a freebie addition to my list.
If you don't like anime, please don't create a post saying so. I would like to keep this topic as clean as possible. In addition, I would be happy to respond to any questions or comments. I'm pretty busy, so I may not see it in this thread, but if you shoot me a PM, I'll be sure to get back to you.
In addition, if you liked an anime I recommended or want to request an anime of a certain genre, feel free to send me a PM about that (or post if you want, I suppose) - I love hearing how I'm doing.
Now, without further ado, recommendation #1:
Gintama
I bet a fair amount of you have not seen this anime. Honestly, it's my favorite anime of all time - and, since I've seen over a hundred anime series, that's saying quite a bit.
Now, you have to understand something about Gintama - it is, first and foremost, a comedy. It has its fighting scenes (and they're incredibly well drawn and are of as high quality as any mainstream anime), but not every episode deals with some super villain that needs killing. Rather, it focuses on the ridiculous day-to-day life of its many unique and well-thought out characters.
Once again - it's a comedy. Gintama is the absolute most funny show I have ever seen. Ever. Without any doubt, whatsoever. Most episodes are a complete blast to watch, and, by the end of the series, you will have laughed more than you ever will laugh again at any other show. Guaranteed.
Did you notice that I said that you'll enjoy most of the episodes? There are two reasons why I didn't say you would enjoy all of the episodes:
Not everybody likes everything - you're naturally bound to dislike one or two episodes.
Gintama has a slow start. It really does. In the first few episodes, you're going to be wondering whether I'm just some dirty, dirty liar, as you may not be laughing as much as I made it seem. You'll wonder whether the events that unfolded during the course of the episode you just watched were supposed to be funny, and are what you should expect from future episodes. You may let out a disappointed sigh, thinking that my standards of humor are horrible.
All that I can ask is that you give Gintama a chance. Really. Watch more than two or three episodes - let it breathe and flesh itself out.
The show has two hundred episodes - they must have done something right at some point, eh?
Now, yes, it does have two-hundred episodes, which can be very intimidating. However, consider that, unlike the grand majority of anime out there, each episode is typically an encapsulated event, in that its contents have little to no relation to any other episode. This means that you can pick up and drop Gintama as needed, without having to worry about forgetting important story details or anything of the sort.
Now, don't take that to mean that the show doesn't have a story, because that's completely wrong - Gintama is definitely driven by a story, which surfaces in the show's story arcs. These 'story acrs' are often related to one another, each contains numerous back-to-back episodes. In these arcs, the hidden sides and backstories of many of Gintama's characters are revealed. In addition, each story arc has its share of violence - the fights in these arcs rival any found in mainstream anime. These arcs each affect the Gintama universe, changing the way each of the independent, encapsulated episodes play out.
Many of the topics brought up this anime are deep. During many episodes, you'll laugh until your stomach hurts and your eyes are filled with tears, but you'll later think back on the profoundness of the subjects.
I laughed with and at this anime. At times, I felt exhilarated and had a rush of adrenaline. At other times, a manly tear formed at the corner of my eyes, and I was profoundly moved.
In addition, the voice talent and soundtracks in Gintama are fantastic. In fact, I loved the music so much that I downloaded all of it - and I've only done that with one other anime. The music is absolutely comical when needed, serious when battles become epic, and melancholic when the going gets rough. Believe me, this music is rapturous.
Soul Eater is a relatively typical anime in that there is some comedy, it has a story that is fleshed out in each and every episode, and there is a whole lot of fighting.
However, Soul Eater has a very talented voice cast, lending each character a unique and believable outlook. In addition, the animation style is distinctive, separating its world from that of other anime.
This anime runs a respectable fifty-one episodes, with very few fillers (a filler is a divergance from the story - an episode whose sole purpose is to entertain and to give the animators more time to work on non-filler content) throughout. Most episodes have a pleasant, sprightly atmosphere, and are very enjoyable to watch.
Soul Eater's protaganists are a number of students that pair together to fight the series' antagonists. Each pair has both a Weapon and a Wielder, with the weapons being living, breathing swords, scythes, guns, and so on, and are used by their respective wielders. These pairs find themselves fighting to prevent the revival of a dead god, whilst simultaneously trying to upgrade their Weapon into its perfect form by collecting evil souls.
Soul Eater's first three episodes are introductory episodes, in which the primary three pairs of characters are introduced. The remaining forty-eight episodes are split into two main arcs, both with an entirely different set of objectives.
Now, unlike many anime renditions of manga, Soul Eater noticeably deviates from the original plot at episode 35, leading to a radically different and slightly rushed ending.
Regardless, Soul Eater has many impressive fights and develops each character thoroughly, making for a unique and thoroughly entertaining show.
Unlike the other anime I've already posted, Death Note takes on a far more serious tone.
Death Note is an incredible anime. It deals with humans and their everyday lives, with one noticeable difference: one of the main characters finds a 'Death Note,' a mysterious book that has the power to kill anybody when their name is written on its pages.
Think about it. What would you do if you found a book that could kill anybody, just by writing their name on its many sheets - and nobody would know it was you? It's a dangerous question.
The person that finds this book is a student in high school with an enormously high IQ - a genius. His father is a cop, and he has perfect grades. How does he handle the power?
This anime is absolutely brilliant - it keeps you on your toes with a sprawling story of lies, intrigue, and death - there are no dull moments to be found.
I cannot explain the presentation style or flow due to their unique natures - in Death Note, you always seem to think that you have all the facts, and that you've figured everything out, but then they'll suddenly pull the rug out from under you and leave you in the dark. It's ingenious, and you'll want to keep watching until the sun peaks up over the horizon.
Death Note's art style is very pristine, to say the least, but the animators always throw a bit of grit and darkness into the mix, hinting at the anime's subtle and very dark nature.
Throughout this anime, the main character's thoughts and motives are as often revealed to you as hidden from you. It has an amazing plot, full of twists and turns and dead ends - I cannot imagine how long it must have taken to write.
In addition, Death Note is incredibly fast-paced, and, as I have previously mentioned, is very dark.
This anime totals 37 episodes, with two very distinct arcs. The second arc tends to fall through the cracks and loses a good portion of its unique feel, but is still worth watching.
If you are doubtful that you will enjoy this type of anime, I would recommend giving it a shot - you'll be hooked in the first five episodes.
You cannot imagine the depth of story and exploration of the human psyche that occurs throughout this anime.
Before talking about the anime itself, I have to talk about the soundtrack - it's the absolute best soundtrack I have heard in any anime.
Samurai Champloo has a large collection of tear-jerking and haunting melodies combined with the most chill jazz beats to grace any anime. That's right, folks - jazz. I cannot express how incredible these Jazz beats are, but know that they have been brought to you in large part by jazz master Nujabes.
They're incredible to listen to, and always fit the events occurring in the anime.
Next up is Samurai Champloo's story, or lack thereof. Story? What story?
This anime has no real story to it, other than that the main protagonists are looking for a samurai that smells like sunflowers.
Yeah.
That's it.
Oh, and did I mention there are samurai in this anime?
Regardless, story isn't where this anime shines. Samurai Champloo has some of the most fast-paced, action-packed combat that is all about flow. Characters in Samurai Champloo aren't like toy figures or dolls - each and every part of their body is in constant motion in combat. It's an incredible spectacle to watch.
Samurai Champloo brings to life one of the most realistic Edo-era Japans ever seen in an anime - many details are spot on with history.
All in all, I absolutely loved watching Samurai Champloo from start to finish - it's a fun and unique ride all the way through.
Viewing Recommendations
I have a few recommendations for watching anime. Naturally, you could just ignore everything I say here and skip directly to the anime, but I would at least read these and make your decision thereafter.
1) Watch anime in Japanese.
What? Wait, what? That can't be right.
Yes, I just recommended watching anime in a different language (with a few exceptions - I'll make not of these as I post more anime) (oh, unless you're Japanese, in which case you have a leg up on everyone else)!
The reasoning behind this seemingly ludicrous recommendation is twofold:
First, you should consider that anime is, 95% of the time, created in Japan. You know, by the Japanese. This means that, should you not get used to reading English subtitles, you may stumble upon an anime that has not been dubbed in English (some anime are partly dubbed in English, but most never will be).
Since anime is created by the Japanese, their voice acting is absolutely superb. I have tried watching some anime in English, but English voice actors are absolutely horrible. For whatever reason, many of the English VAs (voice actors) have squeaky, seemingly prepubescent voices that annoy to no end.
In severe contrast to the English VAs, however, Japanese VAs fill their lines with more considerably more emotion due to their understanding of the culture. The small intonations that they make and the manner through which they place emphasis on certain words makes for an incredibly more persuasive atmosphere, and allows viewers to connect with characters on a much deeper level.
Now, you may be wondering whether I speak Japanese (or be thinking that I talk way too much) or not, and the fact is that I do not speak it. However, after having watched so many anime series, I have learned hundreds of words, and am now able to understand the nuances behind the manner in which the Japanese speak.
I fully recommend watching anime in Japanese. Watching anime in Japanese will lead to a few very awkward experiences during which you will feel as if you are watching adult-rated movies with your parents around, but I would ask that you go out on a limb (and it's probably a very, very long, thin limb - dangerous, I know) and trust me.
I can guarantee that, after watching some anime in Japanese, you will not only be completely used to reading subtitles and watching the action simultaneously, but you will quickly pick up both the denotations behind words in addition to the connotations behind the manner in which emphasis is placed upon words.
2) Viewing Format
When I recommend an anime, I will often post a website for viewing. However, whenever possible (and especially with some of the shorter anime), you should download the episodes to maximize your viewing experience. When you download an episode, you can bypass the horrible quality of web streaming shows and watch it in amazing quality (typically 720p, but occasionally you'll find 1080p episodes).
As such, I fully recommend grabbing episodes either from subtitle groups directly, or downloading them from the following website (this website will often post multiple links to episodes, and not all of them are of the same quality - you should read the comments to find out which subbing group is the most clear, and which links provide the highest viewing quality): www.animetake.com
Regards,
- Beast
P.S. I apologize for the enormous wall of text. A lot of you will probably say "tl;dr!", and ignore it, and, hey - that's fine.
My goal is to simply share my absolute love and respect for anime with others around the world. It brought me out of a deep depression after some disturbing events shook the foundation of my world, and I want to help bring the laughter borne of it to others.
201 episodes can be intimidating, but doesn't that mean that they've done something right?
The beautiful thing about Gintama is that you can pick it up, watch a few episodes, and drop it before picking it up again a little later due to its encapsulated nature. The story is revealed through a number of story arcs that are sparsely located throughout the 201 episodes, so you don't have to worry about focusing in on that - rather, you're able to just sit back and have fun.
Don't worry, though - I have a bunch of shorter anime on my list.
I may cheat these first few days and add a few more anime to the list to offer more variety to readers.
Absolutely. High School of the Dead is amazing - I was planning on posting it pretty soon. I haven't, yet, though, because of the Ecchi/Fanservice in it - the nudity gets pretty extreme later on. Regardless, I love it to death.
Bleach has been an all-time favorite of mine, but it's been pretty bad recently (although I also read the manga, which has been pretty good... #417 was INSANE!!!).
Glad to see another anime fan around.
Keep tuned, I'll have a lot more high-quality recommendations up soon.
P.S. I hope more people start watching them in Japanese - it's a bit of a leap of faith, but it's so worth it.
Ah, I see what direction these recommendations take - there's a couple of nice shounen in there.
Loved every episode of Soul Eater. Too bad Death Note went down the drain when Near and Mello appeared >.<
While we're at it, anybody seen or ?
Both a little more mature than these recommendations, but superb in their own way.
KnK is probably the best series ever created. The word would explode if it was a little more awesome than it already is.
Canaan is ant action-packed shounen with immersive story and top-notch character design. Animation quality and soundtrack are just great.
@Gintama having 200 episodes and doing something right:
Well, depends on what "doing something right" means. It certainly seems to please the masses but that doesn't make it a good series in my eyes.
Looking at the animation of Bleach, for example. It's highly popular, but it SUCKS in my book. The first season was great, excellent, outstanding - but once they saved Soul Society and the filler episodes started it became bad. And sadly it never returned to it's initial quality even after they picked up the manga story again. It was so boring that I stopped after 140 episodes.
I remember this part with the "immortal" hollow which they had to kill a hundred times over and over again. They needed like 5 episodes for it and it was nothing but some random no-name enemy. That's just too damn drawn out. It's almost worse than Dragon Ball Z.
I like to compare that to (again, one of my absolute favourites).
The final confrontation of the two arch enemies in the last episode lasted 47 seconds (I took the time :P ) and these are the best 47 seconds of fighting I've ever seen.
Uh well, I could list dozens of series here, but the post is already quite long so I'll stop here :3
-Monster: a great thriller. Probably one of the few animes at the same quality level of the manga. And the manga is a beast.
-Great Teacher Onizuka: Comedy. The manga is better, but the anime and the drama are must-see, imho.
-Hikaru no Go: how can someone do an anime about Go and make people how doesn't know how to play see it? See a few chapters of Hikaru no Go and you'll addicted, I promise :P
Why did you bring up Bleach and then compare it to Gintama?
Gintama doesn't please the masses. In fact, nobody has heard of it, and its ratings aren't very high (they even highlight this in the show itself). I even spent a few paragraphs extolling the fact that Gintama is anything but a mainstream anime - everything it does is completely unique.
The two have absolutely nothing in common.
And, yes, Bleach was amazing for the Soul Society arc, but it didn't drop the cake immediately afterwards as all of the raging fanboys seem to always complain. The arrival of the espada, in addition to Ichigo's vizard training arcs were both very well done. Yes, the story became a little straightforward, and all of the intrigue vanished from the series, but, regardless, it was still a very solid anime.
Finally, that portion of Bleach about the immortal sand hollow - that was filler, plain and simple. It never happened in the manga.
I would recommend you not put down an anime you have never seen, but I won't push the letter. ^_~
I only brought it up because Bleach also has far over 100 episodes (so it must have done something right too, doesn't it^.^). I wouldn't dare comparing them in terms of story of feel. I hardly could, as I haven't seen Gintama xP
And the immortal hollow - yes, it was a filler but that doesn't make the anime more bareable. I mean, the entire damn second arc was one large filler. Hands down, the manga is better (although I'm not really keeping up with the story), but the anime still is spoiled by all the drawn-out filler parts.
I think I'll give Gintama a try when I have some time. Right now I sadly have too many things to watch/learn/play/take care of.
Btw, it might be a nice idea if you fetch a youtube video for each of your recommendations. Like an AMV, an opener or a trailer.
Hikaru no Go taught me how to play Go - althought I forgot most about it already.
There's few things more awesome than looking at the Go board, deciding on which move I would do and then seeing the dude in the anime do the exact same move! Happened by chance, granted. Still great :D
Here are my recommendations, there's a little mix in here. This list is pulled off of my excel spreadsheet and contains anime which I have seen all the way through and have not been mentioned in this thread. There are about 200 anime on the list of ones I've rated but I've only watched about 20% of those.
If you like gore and don't mind (or prefer) ecchi, you should look into 11 Eyes as well as Elfen Lied (This anime deviates from the manga pretty heavily near the end but is still an awesome anime).
If you like Shoujou, aside from the obvious Chobits (which you've probably watched and is still good despite deviating from the manga) there's Asatte no Houkou and K-On! (plus K-On!!, which is currently airing until the end of September).
If you like Romance, check out Onegai Teacher! and it's spin-off Onegai Twins! (Also known as Please Teacher! and Please Twins!)
Code Geass is similar to Death Note i thought but i like them both. Fullmetal Alchemist i thought was also good (Brotherhood>original). And I like FLCL for its pure craziness. And all the other good ones have been mentioned. i think iv watched too much O_o
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Hey, guys. I figured that, since there are bound to be a few anime fans out there, I'd start up my recommendation list. Since I know how much it sucks to wait for one episode per anime each week, I'll post some of my favorite anime shows here so that you don't have to wait to enjoy anime.
I'm going to try to stay away from mainstream anime and try to bring to light some of the smaller anime that are absolutely amazing. If I do make mention of a mainstream anime, it won't count as my weekly recommendation - it'll be a freebie addition to my list.
If you don't like anime, please don't create a post saying so. I would like to keep this topic as clean as possible. In addition, I would be happy to respond to any questions or comments. I'm pretty busy, so I may not see it in this thread, but if you shoot me a PM, I'll be sure to get back to you.
In addition, if you liked an anime I recommended or want to request an anime of a certain genre, feel free to send me a PM about that (or post if you want, I suppose) - I love hearing how I'm doing.
Now, without further ado, recommendation #1:
Gintama
I bet a fair amount of you have not seen this anime. Honestly, it's my favorite anime of all time - and, since I've seen over a hundred anime series, that's saying quite a bit.
Now, you have to understand something about Gintama - it is, first and foremost, a comedy. It has its fighting scenes (and they're incredibly well drawn and are of as high quality as any mainstream anime), but not every episode deals with some super villain that needs killing. Rather, it focuses on the ridiculous day-to-day life of its many unique and well-thought out characters.
Once again - it's a comedy. Gintama is the absolute most funny show I have ever seen. Ever. Without any doubt, whatsoever. Most episodes are a complete blast to watch, and, by the end of the series, you will have laughed more than you ever will laugh again at any other show. Guaranteed.
Did you notice that I said that you'll enjoy most of the episodes? There are two reasons why I didn't say you would enjoy all of the episodes:
All that I can ask is that you give Gintama a chance. Really. Watch more than two or three episodes - let it breathe and flesh itself out.
The show has two hundred episodes - they must have done something right at some point, eh?
Now, yes, it does have two-hundred episodes, which can be very intimidating. However, consider that, unlike the grand majority of anime out there, each episode is typically an encapsulated event, in that its contents have little to no relation to any other episode. This means that you can pick up and drop Gintama as needed, without having to worry about forgetting important story details or anything of the sort.
Now, don't take that to mean that the show doesn't have a story, because that's completely wrong - Gintama is definitely driven by a story, which surfaces in the show's story arcs. These 'story acrs' are often related to one another, each contains numerous back-to-back episodes. In these arcs, the hidden sides and backstories of many of Gintama's characters are revealed. In addition, each story arc has its share of violence - the fights in these arcs rival any found in mainstream anime. These arcs each affect the Gintama universe, changing the way each of the independent, encapsulated episodes play out.
Many of the topics brought up this anime are deep. During many episodes, you'll laugh until your stomach hurts and your eyes are filled with tears, but you'll later think back on the profoundness of the subjects.
I laughed with and at this anime. At times, I felt exhilarated and had a rush of adrenaline. At other times, a manly tear formed at the corner of my eyes, and I was profoundly moved.
In addition, the voice talent and soundtracks in Gintama are fantastic. In fact, I loved the music so much that I downloaded all of it - and I've only done that with one other anime. The music is absolutely comical when needed, serious when battles become epic, and melancholic when the going gets rough. Believe me, this music is rapturous.
The creators of this anime are masters.
I cannot recommend any anime more than Gintama.
Give it a shot. You'll thank yourself later.
You can find Gintama on: www.crunchyroll.com
Soul Eater
Soul Eater is a relatively typical anime in that there is some comedy, it has a story that is fleshed out in each and every episode, and there is a whole lot of fighting.
However, Soul Eater has a very talented voice cast, lending each character a unique and believable outlook. In addition, the animation style is distinctive, separating its world from that of other anime.
This anime runs a respectable fifty-one episodes, with very few fillers (a filler is a divergance from the story - an episode whose sole purpose is to entertain and to give the animators more time to work on non-filler content) throughout. Most episodes have a pleasant, sprightly atmosphere, and are very enjoyable to watch.
Soul Eater's protaganists are a number of students that pair together to fight the series' antagonists. Each pair has both a Weapon and a Wielder, with the weapons being living, breathing swords, scythes, guns, and so on, and are used by their respective wielders. These pairs find themselves fighting to prevent the revival of a dead god, whilst simultaneously trying to upgrade their Weapon into its perfect form by collecting evil souls.
Soul Eater's first three episodes are introductory episodes, in which the primary three pairs of characters are introduced. The remaining forty-eight episodes are split into two main arcs, both with an entirely different set of objectives.
Now, unlike many anime renditions of manga, Soul Eater noticeably deviates from the original plot at episode 35, leading to a radically different and slightly rushed ending.
Regardless, Soul Eater has many impressive fights and develops each character thoroughly, making for a unique and thoroughly entertaining show.
You can find Soul Eater on: www.animecrazy.net
Death Note
This is another one of my favorites.
Unlike the other anime I've already posted, Death Note takes on a far more serious tone.
Death Note is an incredible anime. It deals with humans and their everyday lives, with one noticeable difference: one of the main characters finds a 'Death Note,' a mysterious book that has the power to kill anybody when their name is written on its pages.
Think about it. What would you do if you found a book that could kill anybody, just by writing their name on its many sheets - and nobody would know it was you? It's a dangerous question.
The person that finds this book is a student in high school with an enormously high IQ - a genius. His father is a cop, and he has perfect grades. How does he handle the power?
This anime is absolutely brilliant - it keeps you on your toes with a sprawling story of lies, intrigue, and death - there are no dull moments to be found.
I cannot explain the presentation style or flow due to their unique natures - in Death Note, you always seem to think that you have all the facts, and that you've figured everything out, but then they'll suddenly pull the rug out from under you and leave you in the dark. It's ingenious, and you'll want to keep watching until the sun peaks up over the horizon.
Death Note's art style is very pristine, to say the least, but the animators always throw a bit of grit and darkness into the mix, hinting at the anime's subtle and very dark nature.
Throughout this anime, the main character's thoughts and motives are as often revealed to you as hidden from you. It has an amazing plot, full of twists and turns and dead ends - I cannot imagine how long it must have taken to write.
In addition, Death Note is incredibly fast-paced, and, as I have previously mentioned, is very dark.
This anime totals 37 episodes, with two very distinct arcs. The second arc tends to fall through the cracks and loses a good portion of its unique feel, but is still worth watching.
If you are doubtful that you will enjoy this type of anime, I would recommend giving it a shot - you'll be hooked in the first five episodes.
You cannot imagine the depth of story and exploration of the human psyche that occurs throughout this anime.
Death Note can be found on www.animecrazy.net
Samurai Champloo
This anime is also up on my favorites list.
Before talking about the anime itself, I have to talk about the soundtrack - it's the absolute best soundtrack I have heard in any anime.
Samurai Champloo has a large collection of tear-jerking and haunting melodies combined with the most chill jazz beats to grace any anime. That's right, folks - jazz. I cannot express how incredible these Jazz beats are, but know that they have been brought to you in large part by jazz master Nujabes.
They're incredible to listen to, and always fit the events occurring in the anime.
Next up is Samurai Champloo's story, or lack thereof. Story? What story?
This anime has no real story to it, other than that the main protagonists are looking for a samurai that smells like sunflowers.
Yeah.
That's it.
Oh, and did I mention there are samurai in this anime?
Regardless, story isn't where this anime shines. Samurai Champloo has some of the most fast-paced, action-packed combat that is all about flow. Characters in Samurai Champloo aren't like toy figures or dolls - each and every part of their body is in constant motion in combat. It's an incredible spectacle to watch.
Samurai Champloo brings to life one of the most realistic Edo-era Japans ever seen in an anime - many details are spot on with history.
All in all, I absolutely loved watching Samurai Champloo from start to finish - it's a fun and unique ride all the way through.
Viewing Recommendations
I have a few recommendations for watching anime. Naturally, you could just ignore everything I say here and skip directly to the anime, but I would at least read these and make your decision thereafter.
1) Watch anime in Japanese.
What? Wait, what? That can't be right.
Yes, I just recommended watching anime in a different language (with a few exceptions - I'll make not of these as I post more anime) (oh, unless you're Japanese, in which case you have a leg up on everyone else)!
The reasoning behind this seemingly ludicrous recommendation is twofold:
Now, you may be wondering whether I speak Japanese (or be thinking that I talk way too much) or not, and the fact is that I do not speak it. However, after having watched so many anime series, I have learned hundreds of words, and am now able to understand the nuances behind the manner in which the Japanese speak.
I fully recommend watching anime in Japanese. Watching anime in Japanese will lead to a few very awkward experiences during which you will feel as if you are watching adult-rated movies with your parents around, but I would ask that you go out on a limb (and it's probably a very, very long, thin limb - dangerous, I know) and trust me.
I can guarantee that, after watching some anime in Japanese, you will not only be completely used to reading subtitles and watching the action simultaneously, but you will quickly pick up both the denotations behind words in addition to the connotations behind the manner in which emphasis is placed upon words.
2) Viewing Format
When I recommend an anime, I will often post a website for viewing. However, whenever possible (and especially with some of the shorter anime), you should download the episodes to maximize your viewing experience. When you download an episode, you can bypass the horrible quality of web streaming shows and watch it in amazing quality (typically 720p, but occasionally you'll find 1080p episodes).
As such, I fully recommend grabbing episodes either from subtitle groups directly, or downloading them from the following website (this website will often post multiple links to episodes, and not all of them are of the same quality - you should read the comments to find out which subbing group is the most clear, and which links provide the highest viewing quality): www.animetake.com
Regards,
- Beast
P.S. I apologize for the enormous wall of text. A lot of you will probably say "tl;dr!", and ignore it, and, hey - that's fine.
My goal is to simply share my absolute love and respect for anime with others around the world. It brought me out of a deep depression after some disturbing events shook the foundation of my world, and I want to help bring the laughter borne of it to others.
Never seen that one - 201 episodes length kinda scared me away. Actually I thought it would be some random mainstream stuff.
However, I doubt it can be even more hilarious than Excel Saga :D
201 episodes can be intimidating, but doesn't that mean that they've done something right?
The beautiful thing about Gintama is that you can pick it up, watch a few episodes, and drop it before picking it up again a little later due to its encapsulated nature. The story is revealed through a number of story arcs that are sparsely located throughout the 201 episodes, so you don't have to worry about focusing in on that - rather, you're able to just sit back and have fun.
Don't worry, though - I have a bunch of shorter anime on my list.
I may cheat these first few days and add a few more anime to the list to offer more variety to readers.
Added a new anime to the list to add variety, and added some viewing recommendations.
More on the way when I have some more time.
@Beasttamer: Go
I'm currently watching Bleach, High School of the Dead, and K-On!!. It's all about the English fansub and Japanese dialog.
@Mienk: Go
Absolutely. High School of the Dead is amazing - I was planning on posting it pretty soon. I haven't, yet, though, because of the Ecchi/Fanservice in it - the nudity gets pretty extreme later on. Regardless, I love it to death.
Bleach has been an all-time favorite of mine, but it's been pretty bad recently (although I also read the manga, which has been pretty good... #417 was INSANE!!!).
Glad to see another anime fan around.
Keep tuned, I'll have a lot more high-quality recommendations up soon.
P.S. I hope more people start watching them in Japanese - it's a bit of a leap of faith, but it's so worth it.
@Beasttamer: Go
Oh crap. I've been so busy I think I haven't read the manga in the last two weeks.
@Mienk: Go
It was unbelievable. You have to go read it. :>
where is angel beats! ? :D
and the movie summer wars, its about socializing gone wild
/push watching animes in japanese
^_~
Added another anime.
Ah, I see what direction these recommendations take - there's a couple of nice shounen in there. Loved every episode of Soul Eater. Too bad Death Note went down the drain when Near and Mello appeared >.<
While we're at it, anybody seen or ?
Both a little more mature than these recommendations, but superb in their own way.
KnK is probably the best series ever created. The word would explode if it was a little more awesome than it already is.
Canaan is ant action-packed shounen with immersive story and top-notch character design. Animation quality and soundtrack are just great.
@Gintama having 200 episodes and doing something right:
Well, depends on what "doing something right" means. It certainly seems to please the masses but that doesn't make it a good series in my eyes.
Looking at the animation of Bleach, for example. It's highly popular, but it SUCKS in my book. The first season was great, excellent, outstanding - but once they saved Soul Society and the filler episodes started it became bad. And sadly it never returned to it's initial quality even after they picked up the manga story again. It was so boring that I stopped after 140 episodes.
I remember this part with the "immortal" hollow which they had to kill a hundred times over and over again. They needed like 5 episodes for it and it was nothing but some random no-name enemy. That's just too damn drawn out. It's almost worse than Dragon Ball Z.
I like to compare that to (again, one of my absolute favourites). The final confrontation of the two arch enemies in the last episode lasted 47 seconds (I took the time :P ) and these are the best 47 seconds of fighting I've ever seen.
Uh well, I could list dozens of series here, but the post is already quite long so I'll stop here :3
PS: Highschool of the Dead is indeed awesome :P
I'll recommend you all 3 anime:
-Monster: a great thriller. Probably one of the few animes at the same quality level of the manga. And the manga is a beast.
-Great Teacher Onizuka: Comedy. The manga is better, but the anime and the drama are must-see, imho.
-Hikaru no Go: how can someone do an anime about Go and make people how doesn't know how to play see it? See a few chapters of Hikaru no Go and you'll addicted, I promise :P
@s3rius: Go
Why did you bring up Bleach and then compare it to Gintama?
Gintama doesn't please the masses. In fact, nobody has heard of it, and its ratings aren't very high (they even highlight this in the show itself). I even spent a few paragraphs extolling the fact that Gintama is anything but a mainstream anime - everything it does is completely unique.
The two have absolutely nothing in common.
And, yes, Bleach was amazing for the Soul Society arc, but it didn't drop the cake immediately afterwards as all of the raging fanboys seem to always complain. The arrival of the espada, in addition to Ichigo's vizard training arcs were both very well done. Yes, the story became a little straightforward, and all of the intrigue vanished from the series, but, regardless, it was still a very solid anime.
Finally, that portion of Bleach about the immortal sand hollow - that was filler, plain and simple. It never happened in the manga.
I would recommend you not put down an anime you have never seen, but I won't push the letter. ^_~
Thanks for the posts, guys.
Stay tuned for more updates.
@Beasttamer: Go
I only brought it up because Bleach also has far over 100 episodes (so it must have done something right too, doesn't it^.^). I wouldn't dare comparing them in terms of story of feel. I hardly could, as I haven't seen Gintama xP
And the immortal hollow - yes, it was a filler but that doesn't make the anime more bareable. I mean, the entire damn second arc was one large filler. Hands down, the manga is better (although I'm not really keeping up with the story), but the anime still is spoiled by all the drawn-out filler parts.
I think I'll give Gintama a try when I have some time. Right now I sadly have too many things to watch/learn/play/take care of.
Btw, it might be a nice idea if you fetch a youtube video for each of your recommendations. Like an AMV, an opener or a trailer.
@fr0d0b0ls0n: Go
Hikaru no Go taught me how to play Go - althought I forgot most about it already.
There's few things more awesome than looking at the Go board, deciding on which move I would do and then seeing the dude in the anime do the exact same move! Happened by chance, granted. Still great :D
Look at Naruto, Dragonball Z, Inu-Yasha, and Bleach. They -may- have done something right at the start, but then it just went downhill.
@s3rius
http://www.anime-planet.com/anime/kara-no-kyoukai-the-garden-of-sinners
going to watch it :D
http://www.anime-planet.com/anime/all?sort=rank&order=asc gintama rank 297. but still a good rating here
Here are my recommendations, there's a little mix in here. This list is pulled off of my excel spreadsheet and contains anime which I have seen all the way through and have not been mentioned in this thread. There are about 200 anime on the list of ones I've rated but I've only watched about 20% of those.
If you like gore and don't mind (or prefer) ecchi, you should look into 11 Eyes as well as Elfen Lied (This anime deviates from the manga pretty heavily near the end but is still an awesome anime).
If you like Shoujou, aside from the obvious Chobits (which you've probably watched and is still good despite deviating from the manga) there's Asatte no Houkou and K-On! (plus K-On!!, which is currently airing until the end of September).
If you like Romance, check out Onegai Teacher! and it's spin-off Onegai Twins! (Also known as Please Teacher! and Please Twins!)
If you like Shoujou Ai, there's the classic Strawberry Panic! but there's also Sasameki Koto.
For mech based anime, My-Hime/My-Otome and Eureka Seven
where are mechs at my hime? my hime was a good anime till the last episode. the end was awful...
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was an awesome mech anime :D
http://randomc.net/ !!!
My All time Favorite was Code Geass. I Suggest watching it in Japanese and not in English... Unless you cant read :P
Code Geass is similar to Death Note i thought but i like them both. Fullmetal Alchemist i thought was also good (Brotherhood>original). And I like FLCL for its pure craziness. And all the other good ones have been mentioned. i think iv watched too much O_o