Anime Recommendations Thread (READ RULES BEFORE POSTING)

[Omegagouki]

Yet why must they look like they're 5? This trait in anime pisses me off so f*cking much.

Because it's Moe. Moemoemoe~

[BrikHaus]

Everyone looks under the age of 15 in that show. That's what makes it unique.

I don't think looking underage in an anime would qualify as anything close to unique.

[drinian]

Yet why must they look like they're 5? This trait in anime pisses me off so f*cking much.

Not a big Peanuts fan either, I'm guessing.

I think the art style fits the characters, and the story. I don't see them as 5 or 15, they're too stylized for that.

Or, put another way, the characters are animated the way they feel, not the way they are. This was the insight that allowed me to enjoy Honey & Clover, where one of the characters appears about ten years younger than she really is -- at least until she undergoes some personal growth. I forget if it's been recommended here before. It's a josei show, which is to say that the target audience is supposedly women in their twenties, but you shouldn't let that put you off. It's a show about some art school students, as they start to graduate and find their place in the world.

[Iron Rooster]

Shinchan needs more mention here! I probably learn about Japanese culture more from that show than from anything else I've ever done in my life.

[Action_Bastard]

YEEESSSS!!!!

Shin Chan:



I like it because it is so blunt in the comedy. The dialogue is some of the funniest stuff around, Japanese and English. It is classified as a Comedy, Slice of life story anime. The show is based in the town of Kasukabe, same as in Lucky Star. Also, is you like Lucky Star, you will more than likely like this show. Catch it on DVD today, Season 1 parts 1&2 are out now.

It was first created as a manga by Yoshito Usui and later turned into an anime.

Plot/More info: Wiki page

[The Bastard King]

I think Shin Chan's been recommended 3 or 4 times now.

Another good show people should watch is Shin Chan. The humor translates surprisingly well from Wapanese to English.

[Mr. Tines]

Surprisingly, we have not yet had a recommendation for Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

This is what some other people have said about the series

It is made of high-speed, high-powered aerial combat, a touch of loli fanservice, massive explosions and major amounts of fuckwin. Despite the name, it's only a Magical Girl anime for the first three episodes of the first series. Then it becomes great. Then it becomes awesome at episode 7. Then it becomes legendary from the start of the second season.

The opening season (soon to be available as R1 DVDs) starts off looking like a stereotypical magical girl anime -- except that at each point where a genre stereotype is invoked, it gets a good kicking, and soon all pretence that this anything other than Gundams-in-skirts is discarded. And from the inner monologues, you soon get the impression that Nanoha is hard gay for the rival magical girl (even though most of the fan 4-koma act like it's the other way around), up to a closing scene where it is hard to think anything other than "Just kiss her now, you idiot!".

The DVDs were slightly reworked from the on-air -- some odd bits like fish-eye lens effects being removed, for example; the DVD changes also include things like shifting inconvenient cover-ferrets and otherwise boosting the number of panty shots.

The second season is an escalation from the first, though the boss-fight near the end is a bit lame. Here the DVD reworking replaced fluid but slightly wonky art with stuff that looks better in stills, but not so fluid in motion. You also get a good ration of German along with the Super Engrish,

The third season follows a 10 year timeskip, and suffers from uneven pacing, from juggling an enormous cast, and from being unable to carry on the pace of escalation (except in the number of lesbians involved).

[Action_Bastard]

I highly recommend Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.

It is absolutely the most adorable movie I have EVER watched! My heart broke three sizes after watching it. I could have died by being smothered by its cuteness! *Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo sakana no ko*

Here is the wiki page

[ZapX]

I just finished Minami-ke season 1, and would recommend it to any slice of life fan. The setup is basically 3 sisters who live together on their own. There's Haruka, the kind and responsible eldest sister, the hilariously retarded airhead middle sister, Kana (who quickly became my favorite), and the mean (to everyone but Haruka), over-achieving youngest sister, Chiaki. No plot, no arcs, lots of randomness. Well worth sitting through 13 eps for a good laugh. It has some top notch VA's including Marina Inoue (Yoko from TTGL, Mu-Chi from Manabi Straight), Minori Chihara (Yuki from Haruhi), Daisuke Ono (Itsuki from Haruhi), and Tetsuya Kakihara (Simon from TTGL). It's a great show if you like comedy and/or slice of life.

[Ornette]

Seconded. Both seasons are really good, with a 3rd on the way next year.

[darth_mark]

Kannagi

http://www.nagisama-fc.com/anime/index.html

Seeing threads about this girl and her series rampantly sprouting
up on /a/, I figured I'd go ahead leaf through some anime review sites
to discern the roots of this series' popularity. It seemed to be about
a budding young idol set in modern Japan. While I agree with the
stigma amongst the more critical of /a/'s userbase against idol shows,
I do find blossoming young girls to be relevant to my interests and
thus, tired of going out on a limb to find information for the series,
decided to download it myself.


Because I had some download frustrations due to(surprisingly) a
lack of seeds, I looked around to get a better idea of what the series
was about despite feeling an ache in my brainstem from the previous
search. I was disappointed with the fruit of my efforts. I'll spare
/a/ the details since I'm a slowpoke here, but how could a girl bust
out of wood? And furthermore, you all seem infatuated with her. She
chews the main guy out for carving a statue and is forcing him to do
things with her? Why would anyone want this birch as their waifu? I
was truly stumped at this point.


However, after finishing the download and watching the OP, I, too,
found myself pining for her, and quickly realized that I'd found
someone to help me alleviate my morning wood. I suspect the first(and
probably last) item in a log of my activities for the next tree days
has been decided.


Despite my positive impression of the show, I noticed an
irritating trend cropping up on /a/ recently. Now, I know complaints
on the internet are all bark and no bite, so I'll admit there's a
grain of truth in the idea that I lol'd like the sap I am at your
corny jokes. But I've noticed that tree puns in Kannagi threads are
getting excessively poplar on /a/. As I said, I got some laughs out of
it, but if this punmaking continues to branch out at this rate, I can
tell I'm going to start wanting to burn all who post them to ashes out
of irritation.


So please, no more Kannagi pun threads.

[HENRCAST]

Keep in mind that I'm no anime fan, so I don't know a lot of animes, so my recommendation might not be so good.

I recommend Code Geass (at least the 1st season, I haven't watched the second yet). I don't like the art style very much, but it's a pretty interesting anime, to say the least.

[Iron Rooster]

Is Afro Samurai any good? That's all.

[ZapX]

A short Minami-ke follow up. The second season is also awesome. overall not as good as the first, but VERY slightly less so and the ending is awesome. Absolutely worth watching.

[Mr. Tines]

Haven't done one of these for a while, and I think by the rules I'm owed a couple. So far this thread, there's a surprising lack of

Mononoke



A spectre is haunting Japan. Five tales of hauntings and the supernatural in old Japan (from samurai days to early-modern), in a spin-off from one of the segments of the earlier Ayakashi -- Classic Samurai Horror.

In the same sort of space as Mushishi, an enigmatic and sardonic -- and possibly not entirely human -- medicine seller wanders Japan, encountering monstrously sad and fucked up supernatural things, and exorcising them through a Buddhist ritual involving their Form, Truth and Regret.

It is animated in a stylised fashion, with closing door scene changes, and textured backgrounds, clearly echoing traditional Japanese theatrical forms.

[Ornette]

Second Mononoke, although it's also worth, at the very least, to watch the third story of Ayakashi - Samurai Horror Stories (not to be confused with simply "Ayakashi"), episode 9-11, called Bakeneko. It is more or less the same characters and art, just another story.

[Dramamine]

I'm somewhat surprised that I'm going to be the one submitting this, I thought it would have been one of the first recommendations. My bid goes out for Cowboy BeBop.

Not only did it have one of the most renowned soundtracks in anime history, but it's sheer magnitude of character development throughout the series is incredible. Also. Space Cowboys.

Since the series does focus mostly upon the character development aspect, there isn't too much of a plot going on in this universe up until the last few episodes, of course, since each episode is captivating in its own right, you truly won't notice. (Truly.)

All jokes and animation is in swell taste, and the fighting scenes never stop to dazzle and charm the audience. Spike Spiegel isn't the one to go ranting on forever and tell you how he's going to kick your ass and how badly and whatnot, no. Spike will point at you, and continue to beat the living daylights out of you until his palette for pain has been completely filled.

It's so very hard to review without spoiling anything, just know that every character in the series is interesting and has the personality to back it up. Plus, the voice acting is superb (at least in Japanese, I've heard nothing but good comments on the english VA too.) and every character plays their distinct role to perfection.

Cowboy BeBop has one of the greatest finales in history. It's a story you'll never forget, and always be ecstatic to return to time and time again.

..See you next time, Space Cowboy!

[Formless One]

I've been meaning to check out Cowboy Beebop for a while, I have only ever heard good things about it. Including...

(at least in Japanese, I've heard nothing but good comments on the english VA too.)

... that the English voice acting is actually better than the original Japanese. Something about the choice of actors...

[Dramamine]

Well, I have the complete boxset and have been meaning to watch the entire thing in english, just haven't gotten around to it. (Even more so now that midterms are coming up.) But I can't recommend BeBop enough, Formless One, check it out.

[zimlord]

the dub is pretty damn good for Bebop. Very smooth. Can't say whether or not it's "better" than the original Japanese, that's a tough call, but it's definitely worth checking out.