Newbie to Anime: suggestions
 

I've seen some anime :

Ghost in the Shell
Cowboy Bebop
Ninja Scroll
Vampire Hunter D


and I liked it. The thing is, there is so much, I don't know where to start.

Can you recommend some more quality anime ?

Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Kiki's Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro
Escaflowne--get the subtitled version, the dub blows
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Neon Crisis Evangelion

Those are some basics. Evangelion an Escaflowne are multi-episode deals and take much more time and money commitment.

Ok the first anime set you will want to get is Neon Genesis Evangelion. It is still one of my favorite animes of all time.

Next are a couple that I really likes that I think are licensed.



.Hack//Sign -- An anime about a MMORPG
Scryed -- I don't know if this is licensed but it is an awesome anime.



Since anime is so costly to get on DVD I will stop there.

Just a couple words of advice.

One -- Watch it with subtitles if at all possible. The japanese voice actors are almost always better than the american ones. The animation is also matched to their voices.

Two -- If you have a fast internet connection then you can download anime that has not been licensed yet. If you want a good place to get subtitled, unlicensed anime go to www.animesuki.com

Three -- If you don't like one series then try another. There are a lot of different types of anime out there.

Hope some of this has helped. If you want any more suggestions then just ask again :)

Doraemon!

http://pal.doranet.ne.jp/img/doraemon.gif

Metropolis
X
Grave of the Fireflies
Here & There, Now & Then
Berserk

In addition to some of the movies/series allready mentioned

based on what you've seen and liked:

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Akira


doh i just got stupid. my memory went blank when itcomes to anime movies.

i strongly suggest you watch the Loddoss Wars subed, Escaflowne subbed and Trigun.

the Lain series is great, too!

grave of the firefliesi s great but be prepared. its _sad_ ..

here & there, now & then..... bored me. but that's me. -shrug-

check out A Wind Named Amnesia..

oh DO NOT rent/watch ninja ressurection, the 'sequel' to Ninja Scroll
it sucks. sucksucksucks

Great Teacher Onizuka
Trigun
Love Hina
Onegai Teacher
./hack series

Those are my favorites so far.

I've got more to add to your list marco..

NARUTO - Currently on air in Japan and unliscenced. It's a comming of age story about a boy and his struggle to be accepted and become the greatest ninja in his village.

Jin Roh: Wolf Brigade Liscenced by Viz. The story is set in an alternative past, where martial law rules, and Tokyo is devastated by war and military occupation. There is a revolt against the authorities and war is breaking out This story focuses on a member of the "wolf brigade", an elite force of the military meant to fight the rebels. The main character is haunted by visons after he confronts a young rebel girl who blows herself up rather than be helped by him. Thsi starts him questioning his action, his job, his way of thinking. Very intellectual movie, kinda long. So well done you will forget it is animated.


Gatekeepers- Lisceneced by Pioneer. Alien Invaders are revealing themselves among humans and trying to take over the world. Secret government organization AEGIS gathering young people with special powers to help them fulfill their objective. Pretty lighthearted and fun, has a nice scifi element to it, and is well done.

Fruits Basket- Liscenced by Funimation. A story about a girl who is taken in by the Souma family after her parents die. This would be all well and good until she discovers the Souma's are all curesed and change into memebers of the chinese Zodiac when touched by a memeber of the opposite sex. Pretty interesting, lots of interpersonal action between characters.

Saishuu Heiki Kanojo (SaiKano) Not sure if liscneced yet. A love story between high schoolers, but with a twist. The female lead of this story is also a weapon of mass destruction and is called "the angel of death". Be warned. This one is saad.. I cried at the end of ever episode.

Kareshi Kanojyo no Jijyo (KareKano) Liscenced by Right Stuf. A love story between 2 teens that have similar issues with their own identity and learning to be close to other people.

If any of these pique your intrests i'll post more suggestions later on . :)

How can Akira not get mentioned.... sure it makes absolutly no sense whats so ever but it is a classic.

Has anyone seen KITE? or the part two of the series ... can't remember the name.

I think you are talking about Mezzo Forte.. but alas i cant say i've seen either of them. I tend to shy away from the stuff w/ graphic sex and violence.

yes, jin roh is awesome.

try wicked city, also.

Not a big cartoon sex fan myself, but i like em violent.

a bit warped too, oh and dark.... nothing I'd let my kids watch.

Castle of Caligrisosto (Very funny. Stars Lupin and a laserdisk game like Dragons Lair was based off of it.)
A second vote for Lodoss War.
Battle Angel

rahXephon is good...although it gets compared to Eva a lot.

Chobits is interesting from what I've seen so far.

Those two are just licensed recently.

I'll cosign on Chobits. I've seen teh whole series recently, and it is VERY cute and good. Reminds me a lot of Mahoromatic and Hand Maid May, but only because the main female lead is an android/robot. P.S. you should check out those series as well.. ^_^

Berserk is really good. I'd have to add rahxephon is good and doesn't really seem like eva. I actually like the characters in this one.

You could also try Generator Gawl and Samurai X (NOT the movie or that crap series Rurouni Kenshin that's on Cartoon Network right now, just the original, 4 episodes).
Also, drewg, when you mention X, do you mean the movie or the series? Because I found the movie ultimately disappointing (something that a LOT of anime seems to suffer from, strong opening, weak ending) but I haven't seen the series yet.

since we're getting general thoughts, what was yoru guys' take on spriggan? i enjoyed very much...

ganguro hit another winner with jin-roh.. and blood: the last vampire was a great short one, but i was expecting a full-length feature, so don't have too many expectations.

I'll second the vote on Trigun made earlier.

Hellsing. It's a bit short and dark but it kicks major ass.

Gundam Wing. There might be some hate out there for this since there are like 5 gajillion different gundam series but this one has a great story arc. Zechs owns you.

Animatrix. These shorts are just fucking amazing. Go the link at the matrix site, I believe a DVD is coming out later this year with them all. 3 are released so far.

I don't know much about Anime, but what I've seen, I can certainly appreciate the talent behind it.

I was in a store last night and I saw an Anime Soundtrack section. Are these movies known for the music as well??

I was so disappointed with Blood: First it was Waaaaayyyy to short. And the CGI/Animation combo was just not to my liking. And what was up with the Agent/soldier guys, their mouths and faces and bodies were so stiff and not the fluid animation that has become known with Anime

Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
DBZ (I love it, can't help it)
Blood (Good but short)
Gundam Wing or G Gundam
Berserk
Lodoss War Kicked ass, just get the first season, 2nd season sucked IMHO
Akira (A classic, a good start if you want the best)

a lot of you guys who are watching anime made from 1995 on have really gotten spoiled with all your "fluid animation" and whatnot. Anime can be crappy too..just like regular television. We only make a big deal of it over here in the states because it is not our regular programming. Sometimes people forget that.

Marco.. you have to deceide what genre best suits your personality. A lot of the titles mentioned here I have seen, or heard of.. but don't really like because i'm not big into Bishonen(boy anime)/Beat em Up anime.. Most of the storylines just arent terribly thought out, and this is really evident from titles such as Beserk, and Fist of the North Star . I'm not knocking these things if that is what you like, but personally I like more adult stories, or things that depect everyday life, or love stories. I like bishojo(girl's anime) and i'm not ashamed to like it. A lot of newcommers to anime have their preferences though, and it's good to try and see a little bit of both to be more balanced.

Speaking for everyone who's read this thread ... Thanks ! There are some great suggestions here for anyone who wants to get their feet wet with Anime .

I just added Spirited Away and Metropolis to my little collection .
Keep the suggestions flowing . Marco

There should be a warning on the box for Neon Genesis. It's a great story line that starts out okay, but hoo boy, is it ever depressing near the end.

Cowboy Bebop was great, but another series you might want to give a shot is Bubblegum Crisis. Or, if you're able to stomach a more childish theme, and aren't bother by seeing the same scenes repeated over and over, then Final Fantasy: Unlimited is a good entertaining series, although, I don't think it's been released in North America. You might have to order overseas, or find some fansubs.

But the best, and I mean the BEST anime you can probably get (at least in my humble opinion) is Furikuri ( also called FLCL). Made by the same people who made Neon Genesis, that show was just completely out there. It only has six shows in the series, but it can only best be described as wacky, and off the scales of reality. Give it a try, if you're interested.

I didn't think NGE was depressing near the end, exactly. How would I put it...whacked out of its theoretical skull, i guess. The ending was bizarre and unsatisfying.
And then you don't talk about the depressing ending of Cowboy Bebop? Well, I didn't find it as sad as my friends did, but I'm weird.

Definitely gotta see....

Ghost in the shell
Nausicaa of the valley of the wind
Spirited Away
Kiki's Delivery Service
Akira
Vampire Hunter D
Kite
Ninja Scroll
Wicked City
Sword for Truth
Blood
Princess Mononoke
Perfect Blue

hmm...can't think of any others right now...

More from Gainax (guys who did Eva)...Seek out Wings of Honnemaise, and Gunbuster.

Wings...serious movie about the space program on a planet similar to earth, fantastic.

Gunbuster...old school anime that is serious, but at the same time parodies Giant Robot anime, and sports anime of the '80s. 6 eps only.

And one more from Gainax...Otaku no Video (Video of the fans) Parody movie that delves into the lives of Otaku (Japanese for "Fanboy"). Mixed animated and live action.

If you're looking for an anime series, I would suggest:
Rurouni Kenshin (only up to the second season)
Cowboy Bebop
Trigun

However, if you're looking for a movie, I would suggest:
Vampire hunter D - Bloodlust
Ninja Scroll
Spriggan

- Get Backers
- Hellsing
- Chobits

I started with Outlaw Star series, that got mee hooked up ...
then I saw Trigun, oh boy I was selled :)

Escaflowne really kicks ass, NGE is good but the end is so damn weird. Cowboy Bebop is very nice too.

and if you can get Noir, it's pretty nice also :-)

Hellsing
Cowboy bebop
Trigun
and um alot of other ones i cant rember

As said before, if you've ever seen any giant robot anime, then watch FLCL to see one of the funniest series ever.

The original Record of the Lodoss war is fantastic, the TV series (Chronicles of the Heroic Knight) was nice, but often had painful dialogue.

Stay away from most of the mainstream anime. It's crap.

Cowboy Bebop
FLCL
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Naruto
Hellsing
Anything by Studio Ghibli

How do I get stuff from animesuki to work?

Nevermind. I'm a moron. -_-*

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.. IF YOU USE BIT TORRENT KEEP YOUR TORRENT WINDOWS OPEN AT LEAST 5-8 HOURS!

people are dirty leeching bastards, and they take what they can and leave.. this screws the entire community.. not just 1 guy. IF you dont believe me.. try getting some of the earlier eps of any series. Unless they are being rereleased.. it's damn near impossible.

*ahem*

okay.. go back to discussing series..


Oh and don't listen to anyone about Rurunoi Kenshin.. Just watch the second series for yourself.. :D

i dont think his name has been mentioned here specifically, but many of these films are made by hayao miyazakiu through studi ghibli. im not much of an anime aficionado either but from what i can tell everything with his name on it is excellext. for example, spirited away, princess mononoke, castle in the sky, etc..

I loved the Street Fighter animated movie, also the series is very well done.

Wicked City is a strange but good one too

I know. But I did manage to get the first ep. of Naruto. Which is a wonderful series. I've still got the window open on naruto.
Does anyone else here read shonen jump?