next »

[undertech]

Monster is a good one if you are into thrillers. It's a bit slow paced though. Naoki Urasawa is a solid author if I say so myself.

[William Broom]

I fucking love Naruto. I don't understand what people can find to hate about it really. I think that in terms of characterization and themes, it has far more depth than other anime/manga in the genre (like Bleach, DBZ, One Piece etc.) For example, Goku, Luffy, Ichigo, Kamina and Naruto are all stereotypical anime heroes who are a bit stupid, but full of confidence and determination. When faced with a problem, no matter how complicated, they all say something like "I don't understand, but I'll do my best anyway!" and then they usually go and fight someone. The difference is that for Naruto, this doesn't always work. No amount of fighting will make Sasuke his friend again. He can't punch the Third Hokage back to life. Killing enemies merely begets more killing later on.

OK, so it's not exactly fine literature, but I do think it's a cut above its contemporaries and doesn't deserve all the hate it gets.

[Bree]

I think most of the hate's similar to the issues people had with Dragonball Z- annoying catchphrases and tons of filler episodes. Whether those claims are really accurate or not, I can't say, but what I have seen of Naruto is really interesting; if nothing else, the fight scenes are fairly clever. I recall one where Naruto faces off against this character who carries around a puppy on his head. Instead of just beating the crap out of each other, it becomes a battle of wits and deception- not what you might expect at first glance.

Even so, One Piece is probably one of my favorite comics ever. Eichiro Oda's plots aren't terribly complicated, but his characters are all crazy creative and his art style's quite distinctive (a typical complaint of most anime/manga from Japan). Just one word of warning: If you do watch the show, don't watch the butchered 4Kids! version. How bad is it? It opens up with a pirate rap.

[JoeHonkie]

anyone here can recommend tokio godfathers?

also anything by mamoru oshii, ie patlabor movies and ghost in the shell movies too

The guns in Patlabor were hilarious.  Just like a revolver or shotgun the size of a car.

[Alevice]

Yeah, naruto's pretty fine for a teenage show. I still rpefer many other sries in the medium

Am I the only one who liked Avatar: The Last Airbender? I was just watching the last few episodes over again and man, that show was so awesome.

I did, but it is not the animuuuu

[undertech]

How about
Hikaru No Go
Moyashimon
HunterxHunter(shame they had to cut it short)

H2 - as far as sports shows go this is my favorite by far. Really subtle, kinda the polar opposite of Major which I am watching now. I'm also trying to get into Touch but it's even stranger than H2 so far.

[battlerager]

I fucking love Naruto. I don't understand what people can find to hate about it really. I think that in terms of characterization and themes, it has far more depth than other anime/manga in the genre (like Bleach, DBZ, One Piece etc.) For example, Goku, Luffy, Ichigo, Kamina and Naruto are all stereotypical anime heroes who are a bit stupid, but full of confidence and determination. When faced with a problem, no matter how complicated, they all say something like "I don't understand, but I'll do my best anyway!" and then they usually go and fight someone. The difference is that for Naruto, this doesn't always work. No amount of fighting will make Sasuke his friend again. He can't punch the Third Hokage back to life. Killing enemies merely begets more killing later on.

OK, so it's not exactly fine literature, but I do think it's a cut above its contemporaries and doesn't deserve all the hate it gets.

Yes, I agree with you!

Especially the stuff that is happening in the manga right now

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

i tend to like classic anime more than modern. perhaps that's because i don't watch it much anymore, but the style of modern anime feels very different than the classic anime i used to like.

the ones i've liked:

- modern: evangelion, lain, cowboy bebop, spirited away
- classic: project a-ko, robot carnival, windaria, venus wars, grave of the fireflies, wings of honneamise, akira, lensman, vampire hunter d, sailor moon, porco rosso, kiki's delivery service, many more i'm forgetting

my friend harlock has the theory that anime was permanently changed with the release of evangelion, and after that anime started to become crazy, showy, more vague and abstract, and trying to weird people out rather than to tell an interesting story (flcl a good example of that).

[siiseli]

Most anime is crap. Mushishi is not, though. It is rather awesome.

[Radix]

I think a lot of Naruto hate originated with the long stretch of filler episodes which turned a lot of fans into noisy ex-fans. Knowing it's coming ruins the incentive to keep watching when the show slows down after the first couple of arcs.

I was surprised when at first I found I really liked it, but after a certain point I just lost interest. Now I have the same internal groan when it's mentioned that I have for Dragonball. Maybe it's just a long-running arena anime thing (and probably has more to do with the fans than the shows themselves).

[Alevice]

my friend harlock has the theory that anime was permanently changed with the release of evangelion, and after that anime started to become crazy, showy, more vague and abstract, and trying to weird people out rather than to tell an interesting story (flcl a good example of that).

I can agree with the fact that evangelion basically set a new norm onto anime exopectations, thanks to its deconstructiveness on most stereotypes of the medium. So yeah, many popular shows will usually include a fair amount of weird stuff.

I disagree that they dont try to tell an interesting story, let alone most anime. FLCL is usually the exception, not the rule; it doesnt help it that Gainax has gained popularioty with those type of shows.

As convoluted as it was at times, Death Note is a good example of a good story (not great!) told very well. Paranoia Agent too. I could name more, but Im rusty atm.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

I couldn't even figure out the story of paranoia agent, despite watching it like twice. I think it's actually a good example of how stories are now purposely vague, leaving it up to the viewer to figure things out, instead of clear and decisive. Not that either is superior, just that it is a pretty significant change. Haven't seen death note though.

[JoeHonkie]

I hated the ending to Evangelion.  Then he rewrote it and I still hated it.  Since the whole series built towards that ending, I can't say I'd watch it again, although I enjoyed it at the time.

Then again, Big O had a horrible letdown ending and I loved that show and will watch it again any time.  But I liked the robots and characters in Big O more.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

I actually kind of liked the ending. I agree that it was a bit offputting though.

The main thing I liked about Eva was the father character. I kind of have a soft spot for characters which seem evil and harsh externally, but are actually good and loving inside.

[Lucaz]

I hated Evangelion's ending.

<SPOILERS>
I found unbearable all those talks about "Who am I?", quite shallow and pretentious those where. So when they putted two whole episodes of that instead of doing something with all the things they foreshadowed during the whole series, it was bad. The End of Evangelion closes all those loose ends, and has few of those talks, and more justified, and it's overall very good.
</SPOILERS>

Since we are with Evangelion, does the Rebuild movies add anything, or are different enough, to be worth watching?

@Paul: I didn't thought anyone would like Gendo. I didn't like much any character. Most are quite meh, either too uninteresting or too angsty. Except Shinji, that has way too much of both. I guess my favorite is Rei.

[muku]

I hardly watch anime these days, but (failing to have read the entire thread), has anyone mentioned Jin Roh? I loved that movie.

[skaldicpoet9]

Probably already been mentioned but you should definitely check out Mizayki's stuff. Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited away were all great movies. Also DBZ is good (but I am sure you already knew that) and Full Metal Alchemist as well. Cowboy Bebop is pretty decent too.

[Valter]

Avatar: The Last Airbender is the only one I've seriously followed. Then again, this thread is six pages long, and someone has to have mentioned it at least once.

Right?

[agj]

Avatar was made in the US, though.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

Yeah -- that's kind of like calling Teen Titans anime, I think? It's anime-style, but it's made in the US by US animators.