I was wondering if any of you anime fans out there had some recommendations for me. I'm enjoying my Netflix account and am watching a lot of anime (so I can try before I buy). Anyway, I consider anime the same as any other medium (tv, movies) in that they are a handful of really good ones, a few more decent ones, a lot of mediocre ones, and a bunch of crappy ones. I don't consider anime any better or worse than regular tv shows or movies. Anyway, I like series with good characters and a decent story. I'm not a fan of the giant robot craziness :D - unless it has a really good background and characters. Here's what I've seen so far:

The best-of-the-best: (these are the only series I have gone out to buy after watching them on Netflix)
GTO - flat out hilarious with some really good truths about teenagers and the problems they face.
Noir- very good characters with a strong storyline.
Gunslinger Girl - offbeat, very sad story with intriguing characters and plot.

Honorable mention:
Cowboy Bebop - lots of action, nice characters.
ROD - only saw the mini-series. Have the regular tv series on my list to see. Original storyline and nice characters.
Full Metal Panic - nice action and lots of humor. A little creepy in how much they focus on the age of the girls.
Burst Angel - currently watching. Only seen the first disc, but I like it so far.
Planetes - waiting for the other episodes to come out - can't believe there's 10 dics! GRRR!! If the rest of the series is as good as the first 4 discs, I might move this up to the best-of-the-best.
Trigun- lots of action and humor. Great characters. However, a very weak ending brought me down.
Helsing - nice atmosphere - very abrupt ending though.
Gungrave - took me awhile to get into it. The fact that 3/4 of the series is a flashback threw me for a loop however. Overall, pretty good once I got over the shock between the differences of episode 1 from episodes 2-3.

Any suggestions anybody?

I dont watch Anime anymore, last time was about 10 years ago
I cant remember half their names either :rolleyes:

well, not really a series but is considered a classic, try Vampire Hunter D
its weird, creepy & like i mentioned earlier, a classic - there are two movies
released of Vampire Hunter D, but I dont remember the 2nd movie title

If i remember any of the ones I used to watch, will post on this thread

Inu Yasha, Wolf's Rain, Ghost in the Shell are all great:) .

inuyasha
ghost in the shell stand alone complex
full metal panic
full metal alchemist
s-CRY-ed
samurai champloo

The Corporation is the absolute best ever though

You mentioned some good ones. Here’s some more…

For series I’d go with:
Ghost in the shell: Stand Alone Complex, Witch Hunter Robin, Big-O, InuYasha, Serial Experiments Lain, Steel Angel Kurumi…as a starter

Movies:
Metropolis, Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Grave of the fireflies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed….

Berserk, of course! The Japanese subbed versions of Naruto (dattebayo.com). 12 Kingdoms, Flame of Recca, Dog Warriors, Jin Roh, X, Record of Lodoss War, Ninja Scroll uncut Japanese version, Kite, Blood, Vampire Hunter D, Highlander anime, Macross Plus, Macross DYRL, Spriggan, Wicked City, Dragon Slayer, Slayers, Demon City, Gunbuster, Venus Wars, GITS, Akira, Midnight Express, Samurai Deeper Ryo, Street Fighter animes, Fatal Fury animes especially Fatal Fury 2.

I was allways a sucker for Patlabor myself. Still one of my fave series.

I was alwas a sucker for Patlabor myself. Still one of my fave series.

forgot bout that one (same makers of ghost in the shell

btw: The Corporation does bit yet exist because i have not made it yet

I also have to add Love Hina, but then you have to like romantic comedies at least a little bit to like it I think. All the others I would have mentioned already have been :)

I'd look into Sol Bianca - just the original movie. The second movie and the series were kinda iffy.

And call me crazy, but I was also a big fan of the original Bubblegum Crisis and Bubblegum Crash. Not the 2040 series, though.

As Guts mentioned, Ninja Scroll was good - but VERY explicit! Haven't seen Ninja Resurrection yet, though.

And if you can get your hands on the Robotech master collection (not Robotech Masters), they had the Japanese episodes at the beginning and the same episodes in English at the end. I highly recommend the Japanese versions - not anywhere NEAR as annoying as the American voice actors.

And has already been said, Vampire Hunter D and Ghost in the Shell were very good.

Mobile Suit Gundam is one of my favorites.
The original series is a little dated animation wise, but some of the later series 0080, 0083, 08th MS team are very good IMO.

I agree with all of the movies mentioned as well. A lot of Miyazakis films like spirited, away, Totoro, Nausicaa, etc. are geared toward kids, but they are EXCELLENT movies and some of my favorites. Turner classic movies will be showing a Miyazaki film weekly for the next 9 weeks. They start tonight and will be shown every thursday at 9 pm. Get the vcr ready!!

Starblazers, Starblazers, Starblazers... Or Force 5!!!

Mobile Suit Gundam is one of my favorites.
The original series is a little dated animation wise, but some of the later series 0080, 0083, 08th MS team are very good IMO.

I agree with all of the movies mentioned as well. A lot of Miyazakis films like spirited, away, Totoro, Nausicaa, etc. are geared toward kids, but they are EXCELLENT movies and some of my favorites. Turner classic movies will be showing a Miyazaki film weekly for the next 9 weeks. They start tonight and will be shown every thursday at 9 pm. Get the vcr ready!!

which is the one that lasted a handful of episodes where a zeon pilot was on a colony looking for a new gundam and he befriended the kid (the kids whoes older "friend" was a federation(?) pilot) anyway that was a very good mini series. All the gundam series that deal with zeon are good. the one with OZ is good for alot of action.

The series you mentioned was an OVA (original video animation) not a tv series called 0080 it was 6 episodes. the other OVa's were 0083 and 08th MS team , I think they were 13 episodes each.
http://www.discountanimedvd.com/ had the complete series for like 20 bucks a piece year or so back. that beats the 24.99 you would spend on one disc featuring 3 episodes at the mall or best buy.
They have the cheapest prices i've seen on anime and they get some rare box sets too.

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. Looks like I might have to bump up my Netflix account to 4 dvds at one time! :D

Right now, I've watched the first 4 dvds of Burst Angel. I like it alot, but, man-oh-man, I thought women were objectified here in America - man, we're nothing compared to the Japanese! :p

"Big O! It's showtime!"

Definitely check out the anime Big O. You may have seen it before, as it used to run on Cartoon Network in the early days of Adult Swim. It's a great anime, has big robots, a Bruce Waynesque character and a mysterious plotline. I still don't think I've figured it out.

Also, it sports the best soundtrack I've heard in years by Rui Nagai. It's worth checking out even if you don't watch the anime. Great composer.

-Peter

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. Looks like I might have to bump up my Netflix account to 4 dvds at one time! :D

Right now, I've watched the first 4 dvds of Burst Angel. I like it alot, but, man-oh-man, I thought women were objectified here in America - man, we're nothing compared to the Japanese! :p

hehe yep:cool:

"Big O! It's showtime!"

Definitely check out the anime Big O. You may have seen it before, as it used to run on Cartoon Network in the early days of Adult Swim. It's a great anime, has big robots, a Bruce Waynesque character and a mysterious plotline. I still don't think I've figured it out.

Also, it sports the best soundtrack I've heard in years by Rui Nagai. It's worth checking out even if you don't watch the anime. Great composer.

-Peter

I think cartoon network is running it again, I'm pretty sure I saw it on the other night

I saw Spirited Away last night on Turner Classic Movies. I taped Princess Monico (or something like that!), but my tape broke. :( Anyway, TCM is showing 2 movies from that director every Thursday night starting at 8. They first show the dubbed version of each movie, then they show the Japanese verision with English sub-titles. If you have TCM, I would check it out. Plus, no commercials!

As for Spirited Away -- man, it was awesome! It totally blew me away. It's been a long time since a movie really sucked me in like that. My dad watched it (and he doesn't really care for anime) and he thought it was the best animation that he had ever seen. I'm looking forward to seeing some the director's other movies.

Plus, can anybody tell me the name of a series? A friend lent me the first dvd once, and I can't remember the name. It's about a brother and sister who deliver packages by airplane. The world is a circa mid-18th century with airplanes and flying ships. There's a battle scene where the 2 sides fight each other in giant flying ships, but they use massed musket fire by infantry who fight from open cargo bays. Naturally, most of them die.

Yeah, the commercial said it started at 9 pm (the one I saw last week anyway) and when i turned over at 8:30 it was already well into spirited away. I have them on DVD but I watched anyway. I forgot how graphic some of the scenes in Princess Mononoke were....jeeez. As good as spirited away is, i think My Neighbor Totoro is better. Probably my favorite Miyazaki film. You can find it in the 5.00 DVD section at Wal Mart and it makes me smile every time I watch it.

Petite Cossette: OVA series with, IMO, an intense and moving love story that is also a dark supernatural thriller. It has amazing music and stunning visuals. It's the story of Eiri, a young artist working in an antique store who falls in love with the spirit of girl trapped within a Venetian glass. This is a personal favorite. The DVD also has some excellent extras like a music video of the closing theme.

RahXephon: A Sci-Fi series steeped in music and action with a fairly large cast. This is one of the most unusual shows I've seen and while it does have a giant robot and plenty of action, the most interesting elements, IMO, are the interactions of the characters, especially the RahXephon's pilot Ayato Kamina and Reika Mishima. Complex and twisted world where humans are at war with the Mu, a race from another reality. Gets very dark toward the end. Plenty of extras on the DVDs.

Fruits Basket: I just know someone's going to laugh at me :rolleyes: but I absolutely have to recommend this one. Although the story of Toru Honda and the Soma family, who suffer from a curse that changes them into animals from the Chinese Zodiac, is a more "family friendly" series than most, it's also one of the best series around IMO. Fruits Basket is often funny and also deeply serious at times. The last three episodes of the 26 are especially dark. If nothing else, Laura Bailey (Henrietta in Gunslinger Girl) does a great job as Toru. A uniquely engrossing series with real heart.


Of the series already recommended, InuYasha, Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Fullmetal Alchemist, Samurai Champloo, Witch Hunter Robin, Big-O, Serial Experiments Lain and Blood: The Last Vampire are all amazing.

Just my opinions though.


Richard J.

Hey guys. I'm hoping one of you might be able to help me out.

Is there an anime movie for "Zero Metal Defense Capsult" or ZMDC? I find these 12" action figures to be utterly amazing and I was wondering if there was an anime also.

Anybody happen to know? Thanks.

-Peter