Can someone recommend some new anime/manga to me?

[CmdrRenegade]

This might be a bit more complicated than the subject line suggests.  As I've gotten older, much of the teenage drama stuff has faded in its interest level for me.  However, this might help narrow things down.  Here's a quick list of what I've watched/read recently to avoid wasting anyone's time: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Soul Eater, Afro Samurai, Samurai Champloo, Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann, FLCL, Hellsing, Deathnote, and probably others I can't remember right now. 

1) Has a relatively self-contained story.  I loved Death Note and Hellsing because Tsugami Ohba and Kohta Hirano respectively knew exactly what they wanted to do and did it rather than draw it out for maximum 'market share'.  This is probably going to lead to shorter series rather than longer ones.  I'm not against a longer story, but I'm averse to investing in a story that will wind up jumping the shark. 

2) I kind of want to avoid very 'teen drama' based stories.  I'm just around the corner from 30 so this stuff feels kind of shallow to me at this point in my life. 

[Kaelhiar]

How about Battle Angel Alita? It's hardly... immature. There are funny moments, sure, other moments that make you ponder the sanity of the artist/writer, but overall it's very interesting. The artist/writer draws on actual history and philosophies to emphasized his points in the story. Is it entirely self-contained? Uhm... no. But is it worth reading? Yes!

Otherwise.... I know this sounds weird, but I liked GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka. Yes, the main character is an immature jerk who became a teacher just so he could get high school students to, um... ahem. Anyway, but once he gets in and starts... shockingly he wants to do right by these kids. It's hilarious and very fun to read.

Otherwise.... *thinks* Yeah that's it. For now.

[DudelRok]

Now and Then Here and There is perfect, I think, for what you are looking for.

The anime is only 13 eps long, has an adult story, deals with some very rough subjects, is set in an interesting location and brilliantly crazy characters. And it does all of this tastefully and with wonderful animation!

I recently watched Last Exile which only has one moment half way into the series (26 eps) with this weird implied love triangle but they quickly scrap that and get back to the part where everyone flies around in WWII-like ships and shoots are steam powered fighter-cruiser-things. The underline story isn't bad, but I mostly liked it because of all the air combat. XD

"Emomen Turn!"

Oh, and if you like FLCL, you'll probably like Paranoia Agent. That one I can't explain without ruining. It is another shorter anime. Just note it starts off rather cut and dry, you know what is going on... then the show double checks to make sure you were actually paying attention. It, too, deals with adult situations and themes.


If you don't like my suggestions, or anyone else's, you can check out some Recomendations according to anime genre, etc.

[Oniya]

I recently caught a few episodes of Requiem for Darkness, and it has a good dark feel to it.  Each episode is also self-contained, with an over-arching plot of a young man who is planning to write a book of ghost stories.  So far, I've seen one involving the vengeful spirit of a horse, and another involving a man who believes he is a tanuki.

[CmdrRenegade]

These are all awesome suggestions.  I had seen Now and Then Here and There, but hadn't finished it.  I also had seen Paranoia Agent on Adult Swim but didn't know the name of it.  I had been very interested.  I've looked the rest of these up and I'm giving them all a look.  Thank you for the link to Anime Planet. 

I think I should add another caveat to my preferences.  I'm not against long series.  I'm just afraid of a series that either 'jumps the shark', has Gilligan's Island Syndrome or both.  Anyone familiar with Dragon Ball Z or any of the works of Rumiko Takahashi (Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, and Inu Yasha) probably knows what I'm talking about. I would probably have put Berserk in with long manga series with solid story telling for example if it wasn't taking Kentaro Miura so long to finish it.  I'm beginning to doubt he will before he dies.  If there is a longer series out there that has overall remained strong in its story telling, I'd like to hear about it if you know of it.

[WyldRanger]

As far as long good manga go, you could do with Rurouni Kenshin. Or if you're looking for something quite a bit more adult, you could also try Battle Royale. Both quite long, but exceptionally good. (As is the novel the manga for Battle Royale is based on --- same title, btw)

[Lady Higashi]

The anime that I suggest is Cowboy Bebop. 26 Sessions long, and it will make you laugh sometimes, intrigue you, and then you'll see the ending... yeah I'm not giving it away. It is by far one of my favorites. If you get a chance to see it, I hope you like it.

[Yorubi]

Well a good series to watch is D. Grey Man. Its pretty interesting and long. Not sure if you would like it but I consider it along the lines of soul eater in terms of the focus on action while having a dark edge to it.

Fruits Basket is an Amazing series if you can deal with more light hearted anime. Its really cute and while it is girlie I'll admit, I do know a few guys who enjoyed it since it can be rather funny and goofy. I guess it does have a more school feel to it but it reminds me a lot of FMA where the characters seem to grow and evolve as the series goes on.

Code Geass is a great series, likely a like for you if you like Death Note. It does have some of that school edge but a lot of it is more crisp to it and adds more on the drama of war and betrayal. It can be a little cheesy with some of the stuff but at the same time its done in just the right way that you like it. Its simular to Death note where you can both love and hate the main character and the 'L' type character is one you can both like and hate at the same time. I enjoy it mostly since it does humanize both sides and does make a point to make out the evil on each.

Trigun has a dark edge behind it while having some witty comedy as the main character tends to be a bit of a goof ball through the series while at the same time making up to be series at times. It has one of my favorite villains of all time (Legato Bluesummer! Your sinister smirk and ways will remain in my heart forever!) and with a western kind of feel behind it, it manages to be different from the usual.

Fate/Stay Night this series is Amazing! Its made off a visual novel (which does have some hentai if your into that) that really has a dark tone behind it and you can't help but like. It holds my second favorite villain (which really he isn't that evil, just the chaotic good type, good but comes off being evil) Gilgamesh which just knows how to belittle the main female character with lay claims to her all while being so cocky and holding an odd charm to him that you just want to follow him knowing he will treat you good ^^. It has some dark themes with some of the character that are under toned a bit in the anime but still there (which i won't spoil since it is a bit of a surprise) and its just an amazing series. If you want to dip further into it you can really find that it has a sense of adult material in it and really doesn't ever seem to end happily ever after if you learn more about it. I wasn't that happiest with the main character at first but I grew to kind of like him and feel bad when looking further into the story about just how things turn out for him in the Fate/Stay series.

[Wolfy]

One Piece, the Be-all End-all of Stories. :D Seriously..10 years, and it hasn't jumped the shark once...though they have punched a few out.

Star Driver (Dazzling the Stage!)

Bakuman (From the Same Team that did Deathnote)

Fairy Tail.

[Aragem]

The one anime I recommend to everyone is Monster.  http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=3750

Tenma is a very skilled surgeon who has saved many lives and one day saves the life of a little boy who had been shot in the head.  Ten years later, a series of murders take place and Tenma finds himself in the heart of it all when he discovers that the little boy whose life he had saved is a serial killer.  Thus, Tenma must correct the mistake he made, many years ago . . .

[Shjade]

Since Cowboy Bebop and Last Exile have already been mentioned, I think some Ghibli is worth recommendation.

Specifically, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is excellent, the manga even more so than the film. (The movie only covers roughly #1 of the 4-volume series.) The short version: semi-medieval/industrial-tech world plagued by the Sea of Corruption, a malignant fast-expanding forest of spores and massive insects and other fatal characteristics, that threatens to consume the world if humans don't destroy each other first. War is breaking out between the two major kingdoms of the world and smaller nations - such as the village of the Wind, where Nausicaa is daughter of the chief - are getting caught up in the conflict.

A great story, that, but if you'd prefer to stick to more "classic" action-adventure fare, you could do worse than Scrapped Princess, a single-season (26 ep.) series about a cast-out princess who was meant to have been killed due to prophecy noting her existence would mean the end of the world when she turned eighteen. The execution didn't take. Since then her two "siblings" have been traveling around the country trying to keep her hidden and safe.

On a related theme but with a very different tone (Scrapped Princess involves a good amount of magic and demons and so forth throughout, this series is relatively more down-to-earth up until the last couple of episodes), Moribito follows female bodyguard Balsa after she agrees to protect the 2nd prince, Chagum, from his father. The boy is possessed by a water spirit which, according to the royal stories, can only be expelled if the boy is killed by his father, the emperor. The boy's mother can't stand to let it happen and hires Balsa to take him away and hide him. Another single-season series, this one based on the first of a 10-book series of novels (most of which sadly aren't available in English). Sidenote, while Scrapped Princess is very actiony, Moribito is much slower and more peaceful, focusing on character development through conversation and political interactions more than flashy fight sequences (though its few fight scenes are quite well done, and more concise than the usual hack and slash - these people don't fuck around when they mean to kill someone).

Transitioning from feudal Japan to sci-fi we have Samurai 7, a futuristic re-imagining of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. Need I say more than that to describe it, really? Take the plot of Seven Samurai, give it some steampunk anime flavor and you're pretty much there.

Last, to complete the shift to sci-fi, Ghost in the Shell. Any version of it is great, but if you want to go through all of it in roughly "correct" chronological order (story-wise, not when the shows were created), you'd want to start with Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, then GitS:SAC 2nd Gig (the second season), then the first movie - which is simply Ghost in the Shell - and then the second movie, GitS: Innocence. Fortunately, you can watch them out of order and it'll still be good 'cause they're ALL good stuff; the inside jokes and references and so forth just make more sense if you watch them in order for character progression. Of course, if you read the manga, you'll notice a lot of overlap as the series and movies borrow from the manga pretty heavily in some areas - the whole first movie is lifted directly out of two chapters of the manga, for instance. Not that that makes the material any less well executed on screen.

Hm...that's all that comes to mind, really. Blade of the Immortal is a good chop-chop samurai series but it's fairly long (up to volume 23+ now, I think?) and I haven't seen the anime to compare it. I feel like I'm forgetting something though...

Oh, of course! Gunslinger Girl. Great series. It's about a secret Italian government organization that takes young girls who are in otherwise desperate positions (quadriplegic, victim of a group making a snuff film, contracted bone cancer, etc.), wipes their minds and rebuilds them into cyborg enforcement agents for assassinations, protection work, espionage, etc. under the supervision of their adult handlers who make sure they don't just go nutso and give them direction in their lives, as the Conditioning leaves them rather hollow as individuals. ...  It's better than it sounds, though in this case the manga outstrips the anime by a fair margin in quality and depth. Still, the anime has its moments; Rico's hotel job comes to mind as a great example.

...yeah, I think that's good enough for now.

[Lady Higashi]

I thought of another anime. It's called Genshikken.  It's about a university club filled with otaku. It is pretty funny and has a hilarious satirical feel about anime culture in general.

[cryptkeeper0]

There is elfen lied  its pretty good one though very bloody

[WyldRanger]

A great story, that, but if you'd prefer to stick to more "classic" action-adventure fare, you could do worse than Scrapped Princess, a single-season (26 ep.) series about a cast-out princess who was meant to have been killed due to prophecy noting her existence would mean the end of the world when she turned eighteen. The execution didn't take. Since then her two "siblings" have been traveling around the country trying to keep her hidden and safe.

I will also recommend Scrapped Princess...very captivating and fun with a wonderful, almost renaissance sounding soundtrack.

[Sabby]

I have some pretty severe compatibility issues with Anime, but I've got nothing to watch at the moment :( Only one I ever enjoyed was Full Metal Alchemist, and it avoided my anime issues for the most part.

Stalling, emotional drama, stopping in the middle of fights to have looooong conversations while it does slow sweeping shots of the scenery, whiny characters that either spend too much time bitching over their failures or too much time trying to figure out stuff the viewer pieced together 6 bloody episodes ago. And the voices... fuck, the voices x.x it's like someone recorded a little girl sitting on a washing machine then scraped the bloody tape down a black board...

Yeah, I'm a lost cause here. Way too western, but I'm guna try again anyway. So any fantasy/sci-fi (in other words, anything with more killing then whiny 12 year olds coming to terms with incest) with good English dubbing, not so much stalling, and Wolfy, please do not suggest me One Piece again x.x if I wanted to watch it, I'd get the same experience trying to lobotomize myself with Lego.

[Yorubi]

Really? FMA had those issues to some degree, I mean its a huge part of the story itself. It did an amazing job at blending it in though and really having it as a factor without over-emphasizing it.

Speaking of Western Anime, you could always dip in and Watch Avatar. That series is amazing! If for some reason you seen the movie... yeah... take that and the complete opposite + 1 is how the show actually was. Its sooooo good.

[Sabby]

I liked Avatar :)

[Wolfy]

I have some pretty severe compatibility issues with Anime, but I've got nothing to watch at the moment :( Only one I ever enjoyed was Full Metal Alchemist, and it avoided my anime issues for the most part.

Stalling, emotional drama, stopping in the middle of fights to have looooong conversations while it does slow sweeping shots of the scenery, whiny characters that either spend too much time bitching over their failures or too much time trying to figure out stuff the viewer pieced together 6 bloody episodes ago. And the voices... fuck, the voices x.x it's like someone recorded a little girl sitting on a washing machine then scraped the bloody tape down a black board...

Yeah, I'm a lost cause here. Way too western, but I'm guna try again anyway. So any fantasy/sci-fi (in other words, anything with more killing then whiny 12 year olds coming to terms with incest) with good English dubbing, not so much stalling, and Wolfy, please do not suggest me One Piece again x.x if I wanted to watch it, I'd get the same experience trying to lobotomize myself with Lego.

*Whacks* You're not the one that asked, though..he is.

Go Watch Brotherhood if you don't have anything else. :/ Or Dragon Crisis, or Star Driver (Seriously...it's FAAAAAABULOUS!) or Freezing...well, that has a lot of exposed breasts and violence..I dunno if you'd like that one too much, Sabby..:/

Edit: Actually, I know the perfect one for you...it's called Kora Wa Zombie Desu Ka?

:/ But all the ones I've suggested (Besides Brotherhood) are subbed only.

[Major Major]

I know it's not everone's cuppa, but how about Strike Witches? It's a brilliantly clever series, that also has a healthy serving of fanservice to draw in people. The rough plot line is that WWII was been superceeded by an alien invasion, and a group of Military Magical Girls are called in from arund the world to fight the aliens.

[Wolfy]

I know it's not everone's cuppa, but how about Strike Witches? It's a brilliantly clever series, that also has a healthy serving of fanservice to draw in people. The rough plot line is that WWII was been superceeded by an alien invasion, and a group of Military Magical Girls are called in from arund the world to fight the aliens.

Lolicon Fanservice, might I add....*Eyes Major* :P

[CmdrRenegade]

Wow, lots of names I haven't heard of before.  I'm responding to all of you though not in the order that you posted since I had a difficult time keeping it all striaght.  Thanks for all the responses so far, gang! Here's my long as hell reply to all of you.  On a side note, I have to check out GTO after seeing this Fist of the North Star parody epicness:

Great Teacher Onizuka - Kenshiro

@Xana: Agreed I have the whole series.  I'm amazed people still know about it.  Battle Royale, is that the one where the high school class gets stuck on an island and starts killing each other?

@Lady Higashi: I actually own it on DVD.  Still great stuff, but haven't seen the movie.  That reminds me that I need to check it out now.  As for Genshikken, I wonder how I'll be able to take that as it may hit too close to home with how I used to be.  Oh well, I'll give it a shot.

@cryptkeeper0: I've heard mixed things about Elfen Lied.  I understand it's violent and somewhat fan-servicey.  My question is, does it feel like it meant something or was it more like the bad late 80s shock anime that was violence and no real plot? Examples of that include M.D. Geist and Genocyber

@Shjade: I think I saw the Nausicca movie when I was really little.  How much more has been released since? Moribito I think was on Adult Swim at some point.  I was intrigued but didn't get to see much.  Samurai 7 is on my list already.  Ghost in the Shell: I once owned the first movie on VHS and have the original graphic novel.  Also saw some on Adult Swim.  This is a definite for me.  I've also seen both Gunslinger Girl series.  Great stuff.  Blade of the Immortal is also on the list.  Is the manga still in circulation?

@Aragem: Monster sounds deliciously dark.  I'll have to check that out.

@Wolfy: I see what you did there.  I understand your feeling about One Piece.  I have the manga releases up to about 30, the first couple of novels of the Skypeia arc after Roguetown.  I understand Oda has been going for a long time, but I find myself asking how long he can keep it up.  I've been getting that same feeling with Tite Kubo and Bleach.  I just don't want him to pull a Jim Davis.  I'll have faith.  I have never heard Star Driver, Bakuman, or Fairy Tail, though based on your comments about the first two, I'll get Lagann style craziness and smart storytelling respectively.

@Xana and Shjade: Scrapped Princess sounds like it has an interesting concept.  I have to give that a whirl.

@ Major Major: I'll give Strike Witches the benefit of the doubt.  I tend to like alternate history and something with even a vague sense of real world grounding.  (Your user name is awesome.  Catch 22 is one of my favorite books).

@Yorubi: Fruits Basket I'll give a shot.  Code Geass has looked more and more interesting with its themes of war and also mecha.  A more mature Gundam perhaps? I've seen Trigun and also have the first 2 volumes of manga.  This one I'm still undecided on.  The TV series made Vash look dangerously naive even if he is practically immortal and trying to save everyone.  If you know, was the manga different? As for Fate/Stay Night, I like some cheesecake as long as there's a good story holding it up.  It sounds like this would be up my alley.  When you say Avatar I assume you mean Avatar the Last Airbender? Yeah this one's been eating at me for awhile.  I will check that one out soon.  In fact, I might start with this one.

[Yorubi]

@Yorubi: Fruits Basket I'll give a shot.  Code Geass has looked more and more interesting with its themes of war and also mecha.  A more mature Gundam perhaps? I've seen Trigun and also have the first 2 volumes of manga.  This one I'm still undecided on.  The TV series made Vash look dangerously naive even if he is practically immortal and trying to save everyone.  If you know, was the manga different? As for Fate/Stay Night, I like some cheesecake as long as there's a good story holding it up.  It sounds like this would be up my alley.  When you say Avatar I assume you mean Avatar the Last Airbender? Yeah this one's been eating at me for awhile.  I will check that one out soon.  In fact, I might start with this one.

Yeah Code Geass tends to be a lot more developed in terms of having each side made out to have evil in them. It does has some cheesy elements but a lot of the tension with friendship and all really makes it interesting. Its less about the mechs and more about the manipulation of others, the more strategic parts and does have a lot about the relationship between characters and a lot of... slip ups.

Trigun is funny really. ^^ I know the magna is a little bit different but its mostly the same with how he is I believe. I just know things develop a bit different such as the fact legato is in a full body cast in a lot of it.

Fate/Stay Night actually doesn't have much its small bits in the novel for it and in the anime it actually only has a few moments, its like extremely tame from the normal Anime. It really focuses on its storyline and doesn't let its own fan service get in the way. Like its actually crazy how it seems to have sex scenes in the novel yet focuses in on the story more that it doesn't even emphasize it all that much in the series itself outside those scenes.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is just a great series. You should watch it for sure!

[Major Major]

Lolicon Fanservice, might I add....*Eyes Major* :P

Hey! I'll have you knwo that my favourite character in the show is 18 years old, thankyouverymuch!

[WyldRanger]

@Xana: Agreed I have the whole series.  I'm amazed people still know about it.  Battle Royale, is that the one where the high school class gets stuck on an island and starts killing each other?

Yes, that would be the one. They get forced onto the island and have to kill each other until one is left standing, all for a viewing pleasure. Very twisted and dark.

[Shjade]

There's just the one Nausicaa movie and the four-volume book series, nothing new. Yes, Blade of the Immortal is still in circulation as far as I know - the series hasn't ended yet.

@Sabby: Cowboy Bebop. The English dub is pretty dang good is you have issues with Japanese voiceovers, it's sci-fi, and the emotional depth -- sorry, the stalling is pretty much isolated to a few individual episodes rather than at the forefront of the whole series.