Any Anime Recommendations?

[calyxte]

Natsume Yuujinchou (Natsume's Book of Friends) is a kind of different take on spirits and demons type anime. It's funny sometimes, and sweet but with dark undertones here and there. And it's finally going to be released on DVD.

Cromartie High School is just awesome, and outside any clear genre (there's mecha, parody, science fiction, Freddie Mercury, etc in it).

I recommend both as manga, too.

 

[Asyia3]

Ones that i enjoy are:
Shuffle!
Ranma 1/2
Ouran High School Host Club
Black Butler
Baka & Test
Chobits
Demon King
Rosario + Vampire (I love the manga more, but the show is really good as well)

 

[rand00]

Try this: Samurai 7, One Piece, Detective Conan, Gantz.

 

[nightdreamer]

It looks like you're out to a good start. Here's my list, many of which are duplicates of other recommendations.

Shakugan no Shana (my all-time favorite)
Serial Experiments: Lain
Chobits
Fate/Stay Night
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's (there are 3 series in the franchise; this is my favorite)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Utawarerumono
Haibane Renmei
Grave of the Fireflies
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

I'm currently watching Gunslinger Girl. Not sure if I want to recommend it. The first season really got to me, but the second starts out with crappy artwork, and I'm not sure how the story will go.

 

[CyBeR]

If I may recommend, for the sci-fi enthusiasts here:

- Paprika
- Summer Wars
- The girl who leapt through time
- Redline

These are some of the very best anime films I've seen lately and I will expand on these recommendations if anyone is indeed interested.

 

[Gramm838]

I would recommend "Sky Blue" - although it's a Korean production, not Japanese, you would be hard pushed to notice any difference - brilliant animation, typical anime storyline.

I also enjoyed "Steamboy", set in a steampunk Victorian England.

G

 

[C Of K]

I have to give two thumbs up to

Kaiji - season 1 - intelligent, and hilarious, and very manly in many respects, as there are almost no women in the cast. Discover why you never want to owe money to the Yakuza.

Death Note season 1 - Very thought provoking. What would you do with a book that allowed you to kill anyone, just by entering their name on the pages within?

Record of Lodoss War - amazing art, and good story with intriguing characters in a medieval setting. Knights, dragons, gods, wizards, ellves, and dwarves.

One of my favorite animes is a movie called Galaxy Express 999 - If you could live forever inside a machine body, would you?

 

[skynes]

Oh man, where do I even begin...

I'm going to put down Bleach, Fairy Tail, Naruto, and One Piece as those anime that any anime/manga fan knows of. So I'll mention others. I didn't pay too much attention to what everyone has posted (overeagerness got the better of me so I may repeat some already mentioned)

Death Note - A guy gets his hands on a notebook that whoever's name is written in it, they die. So he decides to kill all the evil people. Very mind-gamey, it's majoritly about a legendary detective trying to catch this evil guy and the mind games they play on each other as they try to outwit them.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Magic-esque alchemy, with alchemy on human beings a forbidden taboo. The characters are great, especially Armstrong. The whole system intrigues me, an equivalent exchange of one set of stuff to create another set. Militaristic political system too.

History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi - This anime stopped after 50 or so episodes, but the manga carried on much further. It's a martial arts story, but the masters break the bounds of human capability. Very very funny, one master is always drinking, another is a pervert, another is very philosophical with a sadistic streak in his training.

Hunter x Hunter - This.. is an interesting one. On the surface it's about a kid wanting to be the greatest Hunter in the world, Hunter being a member of an organisation of sorta bounty hunters, but they can also be body guards, archeologists and the like. But the show places a lot of emphasis on riddles and powers from a chakra-like source called Nen. I find the show makes me think a lot about the various tricks and puzzles used.

Sword Art Online - A bunch of people jack into an MMO of the same name using a virtual reality kit, it synchs up to your nervous system, so it's like you're actually there. Unfortunately they all get trapped there, unable to logout and are told if they die in the virtual world their VR kit will microwave their brains and kill them, only by clearing all the floor of the dungeon will they escape.

 

[JoanDrake]

One which should not be forgotten is "Code Lyoko" both for the the fact that it has a very interesting story and for the fact that it is French, not Japanese, in origin and so a rare instance of anime from a different cultural matrix.

It is also reputed to be coming back in 2012 as a "live action/animation". This does not bode well IMO as most such I've seen were, well, just bad, and Lyoko was actually rather ground-breaking in its use of some animation techniques.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

Anyone looking on sffchronicles for suggestions about anime does not necessarily know much about it (otherwise they might be looking on their favourite anime site instead), so I'll shape my comments accordingly. Viewing suggestions are of more value if the suggester's agenda is disclosed, and if the tastes of the prospective viewer are taken into account.
Personally I tend to find the more adolescent "laddish" or "shounen" anime (full of violence & fighting) a bit of a bore and prefer a decent script and some character development and nice artwork.
Anime was originally aimed at the young but is increasingly made with more mature viewers in mind.

To recommendations:
The Studio Ghibli movies are a safe all-purpose recommendation: critically acclaimed, very good, readily available retail and generally not containing 'unsuitable' material.
Similarly:
Junkers Come Here: Brilliant but little-known movie about a girl and her talking (?) dog.
anything by Makoto Shinkai: Very good, though some may find them too arty.
Tekkonkinkreet: Street urchins in surreal city.

Recent TV anime, in no particular order:
My Little Monster (Tonari no Kaibutsu-Kun) Dysfunctional teens in school romantic comedy.
Kids on the Slope (Sakamochi no Apollon) School drama with jazz.
Bodaceous Space Pirates (Moretsu Space Pirates) Space comedy with schoolgirls. The sci-fi is bang up to date, for once.
Mysterious Girlfriend X (Nazo no Kanojo X) Teens bonded by drool. You may love it, or switch off quickly.
Chihayafuru: About the players of a Japanese card game. Intense.
Last Exile – Fam, the Silver Wing: Large-scale airship drama. Fabulous animation spectacle, idiotic script.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Warm comedy about a friendship club for friendless teens.
Hourou Musuko: Sensitive drama about boy who'd rather be a girl, and a girl who'd rather be a boy.
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica: Brilliant but dark magical-girl drama. Magical-girl stories will never seen the same again.
Hyouge Mono: Comic period drama about samurai art lover. Brilliant, but popular only in Japan.
Usagi Drop – ah, the joy of rearing a cute small child…
Hanasaku Iroha (Personal Growth ABC): Slice of life drama at Japanese hotel.
Mawaru Penguin Drum (Penguin Drum Circle): Too bizarre to describe
The World God Only Knows: Game-obsessed geek boy and his supernatural 'sister'. Hilarious.
Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru: Daft schoolgirl has a part-time job in a maid cafe.
Bakemonogatari: Clever, sexy, arty supernatural tales.
Tokyo Magnitude 8: Schoolgirl sees her life collapse after quake.

Some Classics:
Escaflowne
Fushigu Yuugi
Bubblegum Crisis (OVA)
Akira
Cowboy Bebop
Ghost in the Shell
The Twelve Kingdoms
Princess Tutu
Neon Genesis Evangeleon
Gundam

Suitable for pre-teens?:
For parents and guardians, while overt p**n is rare, finding any anime suitable for pre-teens (~7-12) that isn't slop and does not contain any embarrassing sexual references can be a real problem. For your guidance, any 21st-century anime could contain said embarrassing references except where you have evidence otherwise. (Much of it now has its first broadcast late at night). Older anime is a safer bet, and the Studio Ghibli output (U or PG in UK) is fairly safe.
For instance Escaflowne is 'U' or 'PG' in the UK
Magical Girl anime should mostly be OK.
I suggest you go for retail DVDs marked as U, PG or the equivalent in your country.

The above lists are not exhaustive. I have, for instance omitted at least one fine sports anime because it's not available in English.

Getting anime: Just in case you don't know, the primary sources are: legitimate online streaming, and DVD/BD sales from online or, of you're lucky, retail stores. DVDs tend to go out of print fairly quickly unless re-issued.
There is also bittorrent and its 'fansubs', which could get you into trouble with the copyright holders.

 

[cyrusDCmonster]

-Dragon Ball (orig/Z/GT)
-Deathnote
-Akira
-Howls Moving Castle
-Spirited Away
-My Neighbour Totoro
-Tekkaman Blade (aka Teknoman)
-Devil May Cry (a one season series based on the video games)

 

[Warren_Paul]

Current anime worth watching:


Sword Art Online. Any anime fan who hasn't been hiding under a rock should know this anime. It is currently dominating the season with its brilliant story and ambitious concepts.

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Hilarious comedy anime that explores the insane minds of eighth-graders suffering from a condition that impairs their ability to differentiate between reality and fiction.

Zetsuen no Tempest: The Civilization Blaster. An anime with a very detailed plot following the story of Mahiro, who is hunting down the murderer of his sister in the middle of an ongoing worldwide apocalypse.

Fairy Tail. If you watch anime, then I shouldn't have to explain this one. A long running mainstream anime based around the hilarious antics of a magicians guild who are hired by clients to undertake missions for money. This show has brilliant, deep characters that you can't help but fall in love with.

 

[Riddick]

Watched
Cowboy Bebop - loved it! Series + film.
Outlaw Star - not bad. Watched a dubbed version, which spoilt it a bit.
Fullmetal Alchemist - very good. Series + film.
Trigun - took time to pick up, but I liked it. Quite amusing.

Got to Watch
Texhnolyze
Bleach - yes, even the filler...

To Find
Ruroni Kenshin

I know this is old but... first 4, all awesome. Texhonolyze is also great, though not too long.. Bleach is meh.. Iunno about that one... Rurouni Kenchin is one of my favourites.

I also loved Yu Yu Hakusho. That and Death Note are my favourite animes of all time.

 

[Warren_Paul]

Also recommend:

K Project - Nice animation, some good characters, but I just wish they'd kill off Neko.
Code Breaker - Exciting story and concepts, if only it didn't have an annoying female lead
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun - Amazingly fleshed out characters, great comedy.
Robotics;Notes - From the creators of Stein;Gate, need I say more?
Magi - lovable characters
Kingdom - Revolutionary
Psycho-Pass - Amazing sci-fi concepts
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou Dormitory - Hilarious
Another - plot will never stop making you guess and thinking, so unexpected, like Guilty Crown.
Accel World - like the story of a bullied kid at school using virtual reality to turn his life around.
From the New World - Rat race is annoying but the anime shows promise.

 

[Riddick]

Been watching the Bakuman anime recently and if you like slice of life anime, you might like it. It's shonen, about a couple of middle school kids who want to become Mangaka

 

[Warren_Paul]

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Hilarious comedy anime that explores the insane minds of eighth-graders suffering from a condition that impairs their ability to differentiate between reality and fiction.

Just to follow up on this post. Chu-2 turned out to be the top anime of the season for me. It's story developed into a deep and powerful romantic drama that could make even guys cry. If you make it through this anime without shedding a single tear in empathy, then you're dead inside!

 

[Joseph Gutierrez]

the new berserk movie came out

they already launched the 2 movie

but there is no translation in english yet

 

[Warren_Paul]

The final movie of Hellsing Ultimate is out now too.


This season, the anime I'd recommended looking out for are:

Kotoura - a story about a girl who can read minds and how it affects the life of her family and friends, and herself. The first episode came out with some emotion equal to what we saw in Chuuniybuu before the end last season. Then the dark mood is broken with some light humour. It's going to be a very good character driven story.

The Unlimited - For action fans who are after a serious, dark story.

Vividred Operation - The magical girl genre returns with some great animation and a twist that reminded me of Eureka Seven AO.

Amnesia - promising story and concepts, beautiful animation. they just need to work on the overdone telling a bit.


But if you're after something very different, crazy and unique; something that will keep you thinking and marvelling at its brilliant references and psychological depth, then try Sasami-san@ganbarani. Seriously, this anime is reminiscent of Sucker Punch in the way that it outwardly appears to make very little sense - and at first your reaction will be 'what am I watching?' - yet when you start studying it, there is some brilliance behind the show. You have to be familiar with many anime shows to understand most of the references, and some Asian mythology too.

 

[Reivax26]

Well you have to break them down into categories really.

Action/Storyline: Vampire Hunter D and its sequel, Bloodlust
Comedy: Golden Boy. That show had me in tears laughing at that poor idiot.
Other: La Blue Girl...this is one of the few movies I have ever watched that actually made me feel dirty just from watching it.

 

[Warren_Paul]

Uh... LA Blue Girl is hentai... And most hentai is about rape and BDSM, so I'm not surprised you'd feel dirty after watching it. Golden Boy isn't much better.

Best you probably warn people that you're suggesting adult content.