I've only seem a handful of series, mostly from my boyfriend's recomendations or tv; however, our tastes are somewhat different as I could not possibly stand to watch all of the different Gundam series he has. I'm not fond of action shows where substance is only an after-thought or series that drug on endlessly. Harem anime is not my cup of tea either.
Things I've seen and enjoyed:
Serial Experiments Lain
Kino no Tabi
Ghost in the Shell
Cowboy Bebop
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
.hack//SIGN
Azumanga Daioh
This kind of thread is really, really dull, and also pretty useless since people will usually just recommend what they like, not paying any attention to the theme requested.
Nevertheless I like most of those shows enough that I can't keep from posting some suggestions anyway, no matter how dull I think it is:
If you want to branch out a bit, genre-wise, you could try Kare Kano and Honey & Clover for some very solid romance and comedy. And needless to say, watch every Ghibli movie in existence.
The dullest part of these threads is how people are always too lazy to explain what their suggestions are, or why they suggested them.
I would recomment shinigami no ballad. from your list, i see you love lain and evangelion which I do as well. ballad of the death god (google it ^^) seems to be a promising show dealing with death and in some ways existence (like eva and lain)
RahXephon
EurekaSeven
See, now we're in the stage where people are just throwing out the first random thing that comes to mind that they like, with no connection to the original request.
Zero to dumb in five posts!
I recommend Noein (already recommended by >>2 though)
>>2 looks like it did =(
Thanks for the suggestions though
If you don't mind watching fansubs, a couple of good shows from recent years are:
-Monster (dark psychological thriller)
-Rescue Wings (not completely subbed, but a slower paced show about a rescue helicopter pilot)
-Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution (The story is muddled at times, but it has an excellent soundtrack and a nice setup. Available on DVD.)
I tend to prefer older anime, and therefore also recommend:
-Macross (One of the pioneering sci-fi shows, with a lot of good characters and themes. Available on DVD)
-Legend of the Galactic Heroes (a very large, substantive and dialogue heavy series)
-Touch (A romance comedy about twins chasing the same girl. Lots of baseball stuff in it, but still enjoyable even if you hate the sport.)
-Berserk (Heavy on the old ultraviolence, but there's a definite story here and the artwork is beautiful. Available on DVD.)
Paranoia Agent (A good short 13 ep series fully of mind fuckery by Satoshi Kon)
Twelve Kingdoms must be the best "underrated" anime.
It's probably underrated because it's so very, very dull. Well, to be fair, the first few episodes are very dull. I never got any furhter, because it bored me to tears. It seems so very much like one of those stories that try to substitute misery for insight.
I am quite open to the idea that it might have gotten better, but I wouldn't know, and I'm sure many others felt the same.
>>12
Is Paranioia Agent really any good? I watched it a little when it was still on t.v. but I was unable to follow it. Soon enough I lost the plot...
I've recently found the DVD's and I am wondering if it's a good buy. I like the other Satoshi Kon stuff...
Yes, Paranoia Agent is very much worth watching. You probably lost the plot because it isn't trying very hard to be coherent.
>>6
lol, ass
>>1
Eureka7 is probably quite good if you liked Eva... I'd say the level of character interaction and development is similar, the action is good, animation quality very high, and the theme is quite mysterious as well. robots,human blood,mysteries involving new technologies, character seeking to find his own answers for things in life
Evangelion, RahXephon, and Eureka7 compliment each other nicely
Mostly because both RahXephon and Eureka7 are derivative of Evangelion. RahXephon is pretty blatant, Eureka 7 is slightly more subtle, and brings more of its own to the table.
It is fun to find the intentional Evangelion references they snuck into Eureka 7, though, like screens saying "SOUND ONLY" and such.
Fact remains, though, that if you really liked Evangelion you're more likely to be annoyed than charmed by the similarities.
I must be crazy, because I think I'm the only person who sees very few similarities between Evangelion and RahXephon. Sure, there's some, but Eva is a very different series in its style and theme. The protagonists, for example, aren't the same kind of people at all: Ayato has way more self-esteem and confidence than Shiji does. Admittedly, that's only based on the first ~17 eps of RahXephon, but even if things change drastically after that point, the most you could say is that the ending is similar.
As for Eureka 7, I think that's yet another kind of story. Renton is pretty much a normal kid growing up while having an adventure. In that regard, it's more traditional than the other two. Heck, I think Eureka 7 has at least as much in common with the original Gundam as it does with Evangelion, if not more.
I guess these three anime do "compliment" each other since they are in the same sub-genre, but the stories that they're telling are very different. I don't think their similarities can tell you much about whether you'll like them. So, for example, I really liked Evangelion, but so far I'm unimpressed by RahXephon. I'm amazingly impressed by Eureka 7, but not because of anything it has in common with Eva. Take that for whatever it's worth.
As I said, Evangelion's influence on Eureka 7 is more subtle, but it's still very much there. Biggest of all, Eureka is pretty blatantly a slight more green-tinted Rei.
What's more fun though is the smaller things. I already mentioned "SOUND ONLY", which was obviously just thrown in as a reference. You might also notice the structure of the two first episodes: The hero is introduced, a robot is introduced, the hero is forced by a sudden crisis to sortie in the robot, and just as the climax of the battle nears, the episode ends. The second episodes begins with the aftermath of the battle, and not until the end of the episode do we get to see the actual climax of the battle itself. Which of the two shows am I referring to?
There's the scene where Renton is watching over an unconscious Eureka, and Talho comes in and accuses him of doing something indecent to her, which just maybe might be a reference to End of Evangelion.
I said that the 3 compliment each other because they are all, to an extent, intellectual and well-thought out films dealing with the "a boy in a robot vs. the world" kind of subgenre/archetype. In each, there is a notable person vs. himself conflict (aside from the other standard conflicts such as person vs. person). It is intellectual in that it doesn't feed you every answer, keeps you thinking and anticipating the climax. In all, there is a certain air of mystery around the technologies involved and the ramifications it has upon the world. (Evangelion&angels, RahXephon&Quon, skyfish&skurve&coralian). They all seem to be using a technology they don't really understand to fight for what might even be called a selfish goal.
I've never seen Gundam fully, but it would be an example of the kind of thing that does not compliment Eureka7/Eva/RahXephon nicely. There are seemingly 2 sides in a giant mech war. While I'm not saying it's bad (though personally I might be inclined to think so), it doesn't fit the same archetype. I would say that any incarnation of Gundam is similar to the 3 because of the fact that it includes giant robots, but it really isn't the same archetype.
Regardless of the story and how they manage to each attain an end, the archetype is similar, and chances are if you liked one of them, you might like the others. If you don't, it just comes down to a matter of taste. In my oppinion, Eureka7>RahXephon>Evangelion, in terms of animation. RahXephon might be a bit more realistic in terms of proportions. Music wise? It's a tough call, I'm highly enjoying Eureka7 music. That being said, I also enjoyed Eva's music, which a lot of people seemed to find drab. "Angel Attack" 1-3 and Rei's themesong are <3
>>2
Honey & Clover is great
Noein The first couple of episodes seemed like it wasn't going to be anything good, but it is decent apart from the action.
FLCL was.. well I don't know how to describe it. I enjoyed it anyways.
>>12
Paranoia Agent was kind of hit and miss. Interesting though.
Thanks again everyone.
If no one minds, I'd like to request suggestions for showing a general interest crowd with more comic book leanings. For legal reasons it has to be licensed stuff that's out now or will be soon.
>>21
gundam is rarely that sort of a black and white affair. while there are two major political factions at war, both tend to be deeply flawed, the hero tends not to trust anybody and it really kind of IS a mentally unstable boy against the world, when it comes down to it.
>They all seem to be using a technology they don't really >understand to fight for what might even be called a selfish goal.
this latter part sounds a whole lot like gundam to me!
If you wanted something with more western influences, FLCL and Dead Leaves come to mind.
If you want a series with relatively good character development and a good mix of humour and foreboding/seriosuness, try Rozen Maiden. The first series is a bit more humourous and wacky, and the second much, much darker. Hasn't been licensed in the US or Europe as far as I know, but some good subs exist.
It's about dolls, btw.
A few series people should really have mentioned by now:
And here are a few that are quite different from what you listed, but that I think you'd probably enjoy anyway:
Also, I second the recommendations for Mushishi, Gunslinger Girl and Paranoia Agent.
Gankutsuou is probably one of the greatest anime out there.
Maybe.
Planetes is pretty good. It's about a team of space-debris collectors on a spaceship, and the events that happen over approximately one year of their lives. It starts off quite comedic, but quickly some relationships develop and by the end it's a full-blown drama. It's very touching; I know the last few episodes made me cry. Ran in 2003 and 2004, so there are DVDs available.
Definitely one of the strongest series I've seen in a while.