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[it_is_coming]

I, like a lot of americans, have been skeptical about the popularity of anime. I never really got it. Every time I would try to get into it, I would watch an episode of Naruto or something and give up hope. But it turns out I've been watching the wrong shows. I recently started watching Higurashi no Nako Koro Ni, and it's really awesome. I know there has to be more anime shows like this out there. I want people to talk about their favorite lesser-known animes to guide a newcomer.

[Zest]

FLCL is one show that I'd highly recommend. It's six episodes of pure concentrated madness set to some pretty nice J-Rock.

And yeah, a lot of Americans have some preconceived notions about anime, but really, it's just a medium, not a specific style- there's more than just Naruto (which I feel is this generation's Dragon Ball Z).

[JoeHonkie]

I grew up on:
Star Blazers (aka Space Cruiser Yamato)
Voltron
Tranzor Z
Robotech
Captain Harlock
And some other things mostly with giant robots.

We called it "Japanimation" back then.  It was a simpler time when things were about fighting blue-skinned alien people and smashing other robots with your robot.

Then Tenchi Muyo and Oh My Goddess came a long and it all became about some total scrub who was surrounded by sexy ladies that wanted to ride his tip for no reason.  And often were basically children.  And then people started dressing up as their cartoon characters and calling themselves "otaku" and writing ^__________^ all over the place.  Dark days indeed.

The moral of the story: If it was from my youth it was obviously perfect and good and not some nostalgic figment of my imagination.  Just like MASK and Wheeled Warriors.  Those were good, right?

NO?  Well, CRAP.

[Melly]

There are many different types of anime. You just gotta look.

If you want a great anime movie watch Angel's Egg.

[Alevice]

Anikmes i heartily recommend to anyone who likes good shows:

Paranoia Agent
Kemonozume
Death Note
FLCL
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Serial Experiments: Lain
Elfen Lied (NSFW)

[John Nesky]

Death Note... Okay, fine, yes, Death Note is sexist, but that makes sense in the context of its culture. It is otherwise one of the smartest shows I've seen. Basically my favorite series of all time.

Trigun, definitely.

I'm a big fan of Hellsing, simply because I'm a vampire/castlevania/gothic nut. There's no reason to watch Hellsing other than to soak in all the red/black/white coolness.

A lot of people recommend Cowboy Bebop. It wasn't really my thing, but I agree that it was well done (and I'm a huge fan of the Ed character who shows up later).

Dennō Coil is a series about a city that has a virtual city overlapping it that you can only see if you're wearing digital glasses. It's like a visual manifestation of the internet, with viruses and stuff running around. It's not entirely realistic, but it's much closer to realism than, say, Mega Man Battle Network, so it's pretty interesting.

EDIT: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It's pretty clever. It's full of blatant cliches, but that's part of its charm and plot.

[it_is_coming]

I've watched Hellsing, loved the artistic style.

[Super Joe]

^^^^^^^
child predators
vvvvvvvvvv

[John Nesky]

This thread is not complete without something by Miyazaki. Princess Mononoke is my favorite.

[Chris Z]

Hey the first Tenchi Muyo OAV and Tenchi Universe weren't bad!  I do usually stay away from the more kiddy stuff although Naruto was pretty good for the first couple of seasons.  Like all Shonen Jump works it's just been dragging on for so long.

My first anime movie was either Fist of the North Star or Akira, I don't recall.  Some of my favorites are those two, Cowboy Bebop and Ninja Scroll.  I don't know (or don't care rather) what the otaku think of Miyazaki, but his movies are really damn good too.  Mainly Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.  Grave of the Fireflies was interesting but depressing.

[Alec S.]

If you want a great anime movie watch Angel's Egg.

Also, if you want a great Psychedelic Jazz Rock album, listen to Angel's Egg, but I digress...

For comedy, I like Cromartie High.  It parodies a lot of other anime and also just has a very surreal sense of humor.  For example, there are three major tough guys at the school that the main character is told to watch out for.  These tough guys turn out to be a gorilla, a robot, and Freddie Mercury.

[Guert]

^^^^^^^
child predators
vvvvvvvvvv

Never saw it. Is it anything like that Predator movie with Arnold Shwartzawhatever?

Seriously now, I remember the original Bumble Gum Crisis to be quite entertaining.  Giant robots and chicks if I remember well. I gotta watch more of them Death notes tho, only saw a few episodes and liked it a lot.

[Andy Wolff]

vvvvvvv
child predator
^^^^^^^

indeed.


some i recommend, in no particular order:
Death Note (really great intellectual tension)
Code Geass (also has great intellectual tension)
FLCL (kinda crazy-random but cool. short and sweet)
Elfen Lied (i really like the intro song for this)
Blood+ (long and violent with a deep, heavy story)
Serial Experiments Lain (at times confusing, but great)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (name sounds really strange and kinda stupid to me for some reason, but it's quite exciting and very fast-pace)
Samurai X
fullmetal alchemist
Outlaw Star
Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo (really well-done fights, in my opinion)
movies:
paprika (dream manipulation shenanigans)
princess mononoke
nausicaa of the valley of the wind
spirited away
howl's moving castle
kiki's delivery service

a lot of anime is total crap, but even when really crappy it apparently appeals to the masses for reasons i will never understand.

a lot of the better-known is really cliche and has bad writing or is stupidly and sickeningly cute or is otherwise just ridiculous in every way.

also, Bleach was pretty good earlier in its days but it's unbearably drawn-out and is plagued by random terrible, non-sequitur episodes

i've apparently watched a lot of animes. I don't really care what medium a good story comes in, but i guess i've just had good luck finding animes that appeal to me. maybe they will also appeal to you.

[phubans]

I honestly don't think there has been decent anime for the past 10 years, since everything became mainstream and digitized. I think anime had a lot more heart and soul when it was hand-drawn and not necessarily trying to appeal to the youth who gobble up stuff like Naruto, etc.

For me, the best anime came out in the mid to late 80s, and includes films like Akira, the original Vampire Hunter D, Fist of the North Star, Golgo 13, and pretty much all of Miyazaki's stuff. I miss when anime was like that, instead of being this hyper-cutesy mutation of its former self.

[JoeHonkie]

Hey the first Tenchi Muyo OAV and Tenchi Universe weren't bad!

I will admit to liking those and Nadesico, but those were definitely edging into creepy harem-anime territory, and some later Tenchi Muyo thing I saw just pinched its nose and jumped right in.

I miss the good old days of Macross where the main character dumped his hot popstar bimbo girlfriend for the local by-the-book career military girl.  I can't imagine anything like that happening in a modern Japanese cartoon.

If I had to recommend anything, it would be Big O, because that show was pure awesome except for the horrible non-ending.  And I will second Cowboy Bebop.  But really anything after Akira holds little interest for me unless it is a remake of some old giant robot stuff.  Or Miyazaki, but I even have trouble associating him with the rest of anime.  He's like got totally different goals and values to his work.