Beginner's anime

[Connavar]

It may be so. But whether it is the original or not, many people hold Transformers in high regard. That in itself makes it something great.

Believe me, when I was watching the cartoon, I didn't care if it came out before Gobots or not. I liked Transformers better because the show was better.

What bothered me was when they replaced all the cool transformers with stupid ones. Now that did make me wish they would return to the original Transformers.

I refused to watch that other stuff. I thought it was terrible. I wrote a letter to the people, telling them -- saying...

Im not saying it was bad not at all. Just thought it was funny how the the robots looked very similer to some a certain famous japanese robot anime.


The movie looks good though effects wise that is.

 

[C Of K]

Understood. I was just implying that rip offs can be great. I never said transformers wasn't a rip off.

I did say it was great, though

 

[tyr]

IMHO, for SF genre anime recommendation, especially for non-anime fans:
1. Cowboy Bebop is obvious.

2. Pat Labor. There are 3 movies, tv-series, and OVA. Basically this is a mecha anime. but unlike most other mecha animes, which view the mecha as a saviour of the world or as a military weapon, Pat Labor views mecha as a heavy industry machine. Mecha technology affect the way of live of the people (there are mecha for civil purposes). The protagonists are Police Force from Labor Division, which handle crimes related to mecha illegal uses.

3. For space opera, I like to mention Legend of Galactic Heroes. 110 episodes, a long space opera with a lot of characters, sub-plots, huge spaceships, grand space battles, etc. The battle tactics and politic intrigues of this anime are awesome.

I like to support the recommendations of Connavar, especially Full Metal Alchemist (FMA), and Hunter X Hunter (HXH). Although, they are actually fantasy genre anime, not SF.

4. FMA has very detail magical system (the magical system is the strong point of FMA), great story, and lovable characters.

5. HXH has rich world, very good magical system (the 'Nen' system is great!), and sympathetic charaters. I even like some of the bad guys of this anime.

6. Memories. A movie that contains 3 SF-genre stories.

7. The last, but not least: Planetes. This can be considered Hard-SF for anime! The life story of an astronaut who at the beginning of the anime has job to clear the space junk. The setting is very realistic and detailed.

 

[animal_lover_06]

I liked Pokemon when I was younger and I still play the DS games

 

[Blue Mythril]

Well, everyone has pretty much covered my first recommendations. Only a few things I'll really add.

- Akira is a cult film, has it's good qualities, but it's also very Japanese abstract. So not a good place to start maybe, but at some point curiousity to see what the helll everyone is talking about makes it worth a look. Evangelion is in a similar vein, but as that was the one that finally and officially caight me *shrugs*

- Someone mentioned Kenshin. A series that I think is brilliant. However, if you're not 100 percent into the samurai thing, I'd go for the Samurai X movies, which is where Kenshin came from. They're very beautifully drawn.

- My final recommendation is that its generally the way things work when we start out, that we chase down the anime (or books, or movies) that appeal to our main interests first. For you that seems to be Sci-Fi. There'll come a time when you've explored that. I'd definately keep an open mind, especially because there is so much in the Anime world outside the box that is really worth exploring. If you in anyway appreciate a beautiful tale, I'd definately hit the studi Ghibli collection: Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds, and Spirited Away are just brilliant. Oddly enough, I didn't appreciate them until I was much older...

Which makes me ask - what age group are you in? I think that can make a big difference in terms of what to reccommend as a good starting point. It also might not.

I'd definately chase down people's recommendatons here, everyone seems to have covered many of the classics. I'd also keep shecking out the forum discussions ot sound out new anime. Best thing really is to just try as much as possible really, and formulate your own opinion...

 

[Michael01]

You know of Gundam series? Transformers are clear rip offs of Gundam,Macross animes.

Wait ... how far back does Gundam go? Is it really that old? As for Macross, I remember that Robotech and Transformers were both out at about the same time (in the early '80's). Now Robotech actually is a ripoff of Macross, but a very good one so I don't care. Transformers, however, doesn't seem to have anything in common with either Macross or Gundam, except "giant robots," but in Transformers they're fully self-operating and sentient robots. In both Gundam and Macross, as I understand it, they are mecha operated by humans. Doesn't seem so much a "clear" ripoff to me.

Oh I'd better add these disclaimers: First, I haven't really seen that much Gundam, so I'm no expert, but what I have seen I'm pretty sure had much better animation than either Robotech or the original Transformers series. Second, I was never really a fan of Transformers. Robotech was a hundred times better!

 

[Iqeret]

I'd suggest Metropolis for a more 'classic' SF style. Also, Galaxy Express 999 and its sequel, Adieu, Galaxy Express 999. Those were some of the first anime that I watched.

I enjoy Five Star Stories, but it really requires reading the (hard-to-get) manga to flesh out the complexities that the OAV can't get to.

 

[Connavar]

Wait ... how far back does Gundam go? Is it really that old? As for Macross, I remember that Robotech and Transformers were both out at about the same time (in the early '80's). Now Robotech actually is a ripoff of Macross, but a very good one so I don't care. Transformers, however, doesn't seem to have anything in common with either Macross or Gundam, except "giant robots," but in Transformers they're fully self-operating and sentient robots. In both Gundam and Macross, as I understand it, they are mecha operated by humans. Doesn't seem so much a "clear" ripoff to me.

Oh I'd better add these disclaimers: First, I haven't really seen that much Gundam, so I'm no expert, but what I have seen I'm pretty sure had much better animation than either Robotech or the original Transformers series. Second, I was never really a fan of Transformers. Robotech was a hundred times better!

Gundam was before Macross it started in late 70's 79 i think.

Macross was made to compete with it of course as usual.


IMO Gundam series usually are more complex,less cheesy than Macross. Macross is about heroics in mechas like Gundam but it doesnt have as much war,anti-war issues like the better Gundams.

The rip off thing i was talking about isnt that clear, its more like how transformers face part look similar to Gundam. Macross for example has much different look.

 

[tyr]

I'd suggest Metropolis for a more 'classic' SF style.

I enjoy Five Star Stories, but it really requires reading the (hard-to-get) manga to flesh out the complexities that the OAV can't get to.

Iqeret, do you have the manga of Five Star Stories (FSS) or have read them? One of my unfulfilled wishes in space opera genre: read FSS manga.

How can I forget FSS?
A must see for a space opera anime lover. The elegance of the mecha designs are excellent for early 90's animes.

Metropolis has beautiful animation, and somehow reminds me of Robot universe of Asimov.

 

[Michael01]

Gundam was before Macross it started in late 70's 79 i think.

Macross was made to compete with it of course as usual.


IMO Gundam series usually are more complex,less cheesy than Macross. Macross is about heroics in mechas like Gundam but it doesnt have as much war,anti-war issues like the better Gundams.

The rip off thing i was talking about isnt that clear, its more like how transformers face part look similar to Gundam. Macross for example has much different look.

Okay. Gundam goes way back then! That's almost as far back as Speed Racer, isn't it? Well, I see what you mean. Thanks!

 

[Iqeret]

Iqeret, do you have the manga of Five Star Stories (FSS) or have read them? One of my unfulfilled wishes in space opera genre: read FSS manga.

I do and have, actually. The English FSS was distributed only through Kinokuniya bookstores; I was able to get it through occasional shopping trips over the course of many (many) moons. I'm hoping they'll continue the translation, though it's been on hiatus for a while. But then, Nagano's been on a hiatus himself, so… But the art is one of my favorite styles and the story amazingly complex (and so far without dropped threads ).

 

[tyr]

Iqeret,
Thanks for the info about the book's distribution through Kinokuniya. I try to check Kinokuniya stores in my town.

 

[Iqeret]

Good luck. tyr! It's just a pity FSS hasn't had a chance to become more well-known.

 

[Armadillo-002]

You can try Chrono Crusade, if you like a bit of fantasy with a heavy dose of biblical interpretation.