I thought it would be a good idea to start an anime thread. As a teenager I loved Akira but never got around to watching anything else. Well, apart from Dominion Tank Police! I'm playing catch up now and would welcome any recommendations.

I've just finished Neon Genesis Evangelion and am halfway through Death Note. The other series I have on the go is Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World.

Loved Guyver back in the day, I've got US Netflix and there's loads on there and it's hard to sort out the good stuff as most of it seems borderline softcote hentai. So any recommendations would be great.

A list of my current favourites(trailers/clips in spoiler tags)

One Piece -- Long but if you stick it out worth every second. It's actually pretty hard to describe how much I like one Piece, not just the anime but the manga as well, in short I love it because there is so much more to it than meets the eye, it looks like a story about a Pirate crew, which it is, but then things remind you that there is a full and vibrant world going on elsewhere as well and we occasionally get a glimpse into what's going on, just enough to make you want to find out more. If you like other shonen based animes(Naruto, Bleach etc) I imagine you will like One Piece, it's the cream of the shonen crop in terms of scale and story telling(and if you can I suggest read the manga as well)

Spoiler: show

couldn't find a video that summed up 570ish episodes without spoiling anythingso here's one that I think does a decent job and tells us spoilers are bullshit

Death note -- loved it great Holmes vs Moriarty type battle of the intellects

Spoiler: show

(could only find a trailer for the dub

Fullmetal Alchemist -- great fun and a pretty interesting world, plan to get round to Brotherhood soon, although I might read the manga first(just remembered the sub is on Finimations Youtube channel in it's entirety http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=EL ... ature=plcp)

Spoiler: show

Cowboy Bebop -- it's one of the ones that always get recommend and there is a reason for that.

Spoiler: show

Dragon Ball Z -- it's cheesy but I love it none the less

Spoiler: show

edited to add videos and to go on about how much I love One Piece

Naruto is a great series, watched about 100 Episodes or so, not seen it for a few years now so I'm way behind.

My mate that used to show me anime he'd found got me into a brilliant series called Konjiki No Gash Bell. It's a bit like Pokemon, 100 Demons are brought into our world, and are fighting to become the Demon King. Only thing is they can't use their powers here unless they give their Spellbook to a human to support them. If their book gets burned, they are eliminated and sent back to the Demon World. It's mostly kid-friendly (was shown in the morning when we were in Tokyo), though there's a few dodgy bits, such as Parco Folgore, a character obsessed with tits.
The US got a translated version, Zatch Bell, that was terrible. Stick to Konjiki.

Pretty much anything by the late Satoshi Kon is very highly recommended. Paprika especially



Although if you're looking for series specifically, he also made Paranoia Agent, which is very much worth your time.

Current faves:

Now and Then: Here and There Beautiful and bleak fantasy about child soldiers in another world. It goes to some shockingly dark places but there's loads of heart to it.

Usagi Drop: Incredibly sweet story about a single 30 year old guy whose grandfather dies, leaving a 6 year old daughter nobody knew about. He adopts the wee girl and the series pretty much covers the growing relationship between the two of them as he tries to juggle work and being a parent for the first time and she adjusts to her new life.

I think the last series I watched was Baccano, an anime take on a 20's gangster caper. Violent as hell and utterly fucking ridiculous. Good fun though.

I really need to watch Paprika again!

I'm not up to date on my anime but always have a list to fall back on:

Golgo 13: Still remains as one of my favourite movies despite being admittedly quite cheesy.

My Neighbour Totoro & Porco Rosso: Probably as mainstream as it gets with Ghibli movies but I'm not ashamed that they're the closest I've got to enjoying a Disney movie (while not )

Appleseed: Amazing, could watch this on loop for a day!

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie: Best game-to-movie adaptation? Probably

AndyKurosaki wrote:Naruto is a great series, watched about 100 Episodes or so, not seen it for a few years now so I'm way behind.

Original Naruto goes into nonstop filler at around the 130-140 mark anyway. I'm several months of Shippuden behind, personally. I mainly stopped because the filler was boring me. It was also boring the show itself, apparently.

My mate that used to show me anime he'd found got me into a brilliant series called Konjiki No Gash Bell. It's a bit like Pokemon, 100 Demons are brought into our world, and are fighting to become the Demon King. Only thing is they can't use their powers here unless they give their Spellbook to a human to support them. If their book gets burned, they are eliminated and sent back to the Demon World. It's mostly kid-friendly (was shown in the morning when we were in Tokyo), though there's a few dodgy bits, such as Parco Folgore, a character obsessed with tits.
The US got a translated version, Zatch Bell, that was terrible. Stick to Konjiki.

I only ever saw it as Zatch Bell. Does the original's dialogue involve as much talking about the power of friendship as the dub does?

Sometimes, but it's mostly how when some Demons team up, they're stronger than they were as individuals. I always found it exciting when Gash learned a new spell, as his human friend ( I forget his name) never knew what it would do until he cast it.
One episode featured a really cute cat demon,that didn't want to fight.when it had it's book burned by an evil Demon it nearly had me in tears. Gash's fury at the Demon made for a brilliant fight.

I remember that episode. I should really watch the remaining two thirds of the series, but like I said, I only ever knew it as Zatch Bell, so that's what I'm watching, and there's only so many monologues about friendship a man can take in a day.

The ones that instantly came into my mind as my all-time favourites are:

Samurai Champloo (26-episode series, 2004-2005)
It was made by the people behind Cowboy Bebop that DarthCuddles has mentioned, but I personally got much more into this "samurai meets hip-hop" kinda unique world Both great though!

Spoiler: show

Planetes (26-episode series, 2003-2004)
Sci-Fi set in 2075, but very believable great human drama about people who clean up space debris around the earth.

Spoiler: show

Tokyo Godfathers (movie, 2003)
As PressEscToExit says, all Satoshi Kon's works are brilliant, but my favourite is this funny and heart-warming story about three homeless people and an abandoned baby.
Everything by Satoshi Kon is really excellent though. It's too sad he passed away so soon so young
Excuse my putting the Japanese version trailer here, as I can't stand the narration in the English version...

Spoiler: show

Tekkonkinkreet (movie, 2006)
Absolutely stunning visuals, music and story about a couple of free-spirited street kids!

Spoiler: show

Summer Wars (movie, 2009)
Sweet and moving story about a warm old-fashioned big family in the country side, brilliantly combined with the modern cyber world crisis.

Spoiler: show

Wolf's Rain (30-episode series, 2003)
Beautiful fantasy story about wolves, who can take human form as needed, on their journey to find their paradise.
Well, Jay says its story structure was poor, but I loved it, and as a dog/wolf lover, I couldn't help bursting into tears at sad scenes with them in wolf form!

Spoiler: show

Ginga Hyoryu Vifam [Round Vernian Vifam] (46-episode series, 1983-1984)
I don't think this is available outside Japan, but wanted to include it here, as I was so into it when I was a kid, and it's still the best anime series to me!
It's a Sci-Fi robot anime about 13 children, who travel on a spaceship by themselves to rescue their family who were kidnapped by enemy aliens, and watching these children mentally grow through their journey together was very influential to me as a child myself

Spoiler: show

Suppose that's enough from me for now

Ah, can't believe I forgot this one!

Gurren Lagann (27-episode series, 2007)
Absolutely awesome robot anime full of energy and love!

Spoiler: show

a few of my favs old and on going are,

Bleach - Deathgods kicking ass with swords, awsome

Naruto - Always make me cry or well up btw

Samurai Champloo - Hiphop meets samurai, just fantastic, also introduced me to the amazing tallent of Nujabes(R.I.P), Substantual, Fatjon and Shing02, all amazing hiphop artists.

Trigun - One of the first series i ever watched, just sooo kool.

Street fighter 2 the animated series - really good seires and explained everyones start point, love it

Beserk - Agian one of my first, Gutts and all his bloody rage, this is abit dark at times

Kurokos Basketball - current on going series about a basketball team, its very good.

Cowboy Bebop - Love this series, very very cool

And sooooo Many others, alot of Laikamuttnik's recommendations are good as well. Summerwars is a fantastic film as is Paprika and also Appleseed.

Tekkonkinkreet is pretty cool, I'm kind of interested in checking out that Tokyo Godfathers now though, thanks for the suggestion!

With the Asura's Wrath podcast on it's way soon I thought I'd throw out a movie that'll make Asura's WTF moments look tame: Dead Leaves

Might try Berserk too, love my hyper-violence stuff

laikamuttnik wrote: Planetes (26-episode series, 2003-2004)
Sci-Fi set in 2075, but very believable great human drama about people who clean up space debris around the earth.

REALLY wanted to see this, loved the look and the concept back when I first saw the trailer. I rented volume 1 of the DVDs from Blockbuster as soon as it came out over here but (for whatever reason) there was no Japanese audio available and I couldn't stand the English dub Planning to give it another go asap.

Summer Wars (movie, 2009)
Sweet and moving story about a warm old-fashioned big family in the country side, brilliantly combined with the modern cyber world crisis.

Saw this one at the cinema and loved it. Was previously a fan of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by the same director, which I think was a little more immediately satisfying but doesn't quite have the staying power and warmth of Summer Wars. His new film Wolf Children is showing in Edinburgh next week (alongside Goro Miyazaki's new one) and I'm completely gutted I won't be able to get through there to see it.

I should have a lot to add to this due to the upcoming scottish anime festival. Although oddly the first film is not really anime but the live action phoenix wright film.

I honestly cannot add much to what has been mentioned above, most if not all great great series. The only addition, unless i have missed it, is ghost in the shell stand alone complex season 1 and 2. Great stories and characters that has time to grow through the 26 episode run.

Pressesc i will give you an update on the films once i have seen them as i have tickets for both currently.

delb2k wrote:I should have a lot to add to this due to the upcoming scottish anime festival. Although oddly the first film is not really anime but the live action phoenix wright film.

I'm going to have to get me some of that, did not know that there was an anime festival so that's next weekend set

Let me know when your about mate i may well see you there!

fantastic thread, lots of news ones for me to look into, when will I find the time?!

Is The Girl Who Leapt Through Time the one on Netflix with (mega spoiler follows)

Spoiler: show

a downhill bike accident

The Netflix anime section always looks like it's a collection of really low budget made for TV stuff (to me at least) so it came as a pleasant surprise when I took a gamble on it. Did anyone get a chance to check out the Devil May Cry series?

mikeleddy83 wrote:Is The Girl Who Leapt Through Time the one on Netflix with (mega spoiler follows)

Spoiler: show

a downhill bike accident

The Netflix anime section always looks like it's a collection of really low budget made for TV stuff (to me at least) so it came as a pleasant surprise when I took a gamble on it. Did anyone get a chance to check out the Devil May Cry series?

Yeah that's the one. Crackin' wee film.

I didn't make it past the first episode of Devil May Cry . I love the games but I CAN'T STAND Dante so I'm probably not the ideal person to judge it. Seemed pretty naff though.