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Recommend Me Anime

Started by Aragem, January 17, 2012, 09:24:56 AM

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Aragem

Hey, I just finished watching Romeo + Juliet anime, wonderful series.  I LOVE how they use Shakespearen dialogue in the English Dub.  But its made me hungry for more anime.

I want a new anime series.  I love the classics, but I'm looking for something I've never seen or heard of before.  Preferable something that came out after 2005.   I prefer English dubbed, but subtitle is already if the English dubbing is terrible.  Or it hasn't been dubbed yet.

I like anime that has a main female lead and a love triangle.  These are not requirements, just preferances. 

These are anime that I've already seen and familiar with. 

Eureka 7

Noein

Romeo + Juliet

Death Note

Black Butler

When They Cry

Monster

Angel Beats

High School of the Dead

Bleach

Naruto

Full Metal Alchemist and Brother Hood

Afro Samurai

Gankutsouo

Inuyasha

Casshern Sins

Elfen Lies

Ghost Hound

CmdrRenegade

If you want a short(er) series: Soul Eater is a good one.  At 51 episodes, it's longer than some but doesn't overstay its welcome.  If you want a lot to watch, there's One Piece which is still ongoing. 
"Every creative act is open war against The Way It Is."-Tycho Brahe of Penny Arcade

I'm CmdrRenegade and these are my Ons and Offs and Apologies and Abcenses on Elliquiy.


Aragem

I'd prefer a series that is complete.  I know I mentioned Naruto and Bleach in my list, those I am familiar with, but I lost interest when they kept going going going going.

Shjade

Given your stated preferences: Ouran High School Host Club. The love triangle doesn't really start to develop until about a third of the way into the series. The whole thing's available on Hulu at the moment (though I think only subtitled for most of it).
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Aragem

Oh, I've seen that one.  I like it because it was a reverse harem anime.  Really funny, it's also available in Netflix.

Jag

Not sure if any of these fit your requirements (almost all the series I watch have some kind of relationship in them, but not really a triangle). I'm more an action freak when it comes to anime...this is the list I usually recommend for people looking for anime:

Angel Sanctuary

Alexander Senki

Battle Angel Alita

Beyblade

The Big-O

Black Blood Brothers

Black Jack: A Surgeon with the Hands of God

Blue Submarine No. 6

Baki the Grappler

Cardcaptors

Cowboy Bebop

Cyborg 009

Candidate for Goddess

Digimon Adventure

D.N.Angel

FLCL

Fruits Basket

Fushigi Yûgi - The Mysterious Play

Galaxy Angel

Great Teacher Onizuka

Gundam 008MS Team

Heat Guy J

Hikaru no Go

Infinite Ryvius

Love Hina

Marmalade Boy

Outlaw Star

Paradise Kiss

Paranoia Agent

Pet Shop of Horrors

Please Teacher

Read or Die

Ronin Warriors

Rurouni Kenshin

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Sailor Moon

Saint Seiya

Saiyuki Reloaded

Samurai Jack (not technically anime, but damn it's good!)

Shaman King

Shinzo

Street Fighter II V

Tenchi Muyo!

Tenchi in Tokyo!

Tokyo Babylon

Trigun

Vision of Escaflowne

Weiss Kreuz (screw Glühen!)

Wolf's Rain

X/1999

Yu Yu Hakusho

Zoids

The bolded ones are the ones that I think best fit your 'main female character' and 'romance' ideas. Not sure how triangular the romances are, but they are there.
Ons/Offs // Request Thread (Updated 3/10/24) // Slow to Reply at the Moment

Aragem

I just checked out Marmalade boy.  It's older than what I requested, but intriguing nonetheless.  Older anime does have that charm to it that the newer anime have lost over the years.

Jag

Oops, I seemed to have missed your 2005 cap. That rules out almost my entire list. XP
Ons/Offs // Request Thread (Updated 3/10/24) // Slow to Reply at the Moment

Aragem


Haruki

#9
I wouldn't write off older anime entirely, Aragem.  Oftentimes it was because of the limitations in technology in terms of visuals, the stories and characterization had to make up for lack of technical prowess.  I see it so often in JRPGs too, but that's a whole other topic.

A strong female lead huh?  It's hard to find a good female lead in anime, since anime (not surprisingly) is more popular with the male crowd.

Prior posters have recommended some I would have already, but to reiterate personal favorites.  Cardcaptor Sakura (try to see this in sub if possible.  English dub was 'passable', but there were cuts done, even if all 70 episodes were run outside the U.S. in other English-speaking markets), Fushigi Yuugi (Will be re-issued this Spring.....hopefully Media Blasters will put the old Animaze dub that was done to this from 1999-early 2000....it's again 'passable'.....die-hard fanbase hates it, but I liked it, and it's a textbook shoujo with a love triangle in it).  Post '05, I'm going to give a nod to Saiunkoku Monogatari (aka: The Story of Saiunkoku), which ran during the glut of Haruhi-mania (as such, anime fandom basically ignored the series), but I'm pushing it because of its strong female lead.  It's got a heavy plot-based story based around government/politics set in an old Orient/Chinese-like world, with a romance sub-plot thrown in.

I'm glad you liked Romeo x Juliet also.  That's one of my favorite adaptions of an already-existing story that's been told so many times before in various ways.  I like how the story was padded out a bit and given some modern twists, yet it starts, has the middle, and concludes in much the way Shakespeare envisioned in his original play.
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Aragem

QuoteI wouldn't write off older anime entirely, Aragem.  Oftentimes it was because of the limitations in technology in terms of visuals, the stories and characterization had to make up for lack of technical prowess.  I see it so often in JRPGs too, but that's a whole other topic.

Oh, I'm not writing off any older anime.  I've watched anime since the 90's.  Akira, Sailor Moon, Vampire Hunter D, Trigun, and others have been cornerstones for me.  I meant by anything after 2005 is because the likely hood of it being an anime I've never heard of before because I've been out of the loop for anime for a while.

If you like Romeo and Juliet, then I have to recommend Gankutsuou.  It takes the classic tale of the Count of Monte Cristo and puts futuristic spin on it.  It stays true to the tale and behavior of French aristocrats of that time period.

Haruki

Ahhhh, I see.  I apologize then for somehow jumping to that conclusion.  Not my intent at all.  ^^;;

I'll attempt finding your suggestion.  That was a Geneon title that got lost in the shuffle of rescues when that company was shuttered.  I sure hope it's not too out of reach if I have to dig around eBay.  EVERYTHING that came out in anime-dom from 2006-2007 basically lost to Naruto Shippuden's early episodes, and one Haruhi Suzumiya, which is an unfortunate circumstance.  People in Japan and here in the U.S. (via the video p2p circles and eventual R1 release runs) within the fandom of anime couldn't stop yacking about both and anything else to them was sub-par.  It leaves the few like myself who dug beyond those franchises to seek and enjoy what was basically being ignored.

That included both Romeo x Juliet and the one you mentioned, as well as Saiunkoku (which I recommended earlier).

Heh, I know too much about this anime stuff.  I don't follow it near as much as I used to in the glory days of the late 1990s/early 2000s, but I try to offer suggestions when these sort of threads pop up.

Take in my and others' suggestions and enjoy.  Happy viewing.  ^^
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Aragem

There was a while a few years back when I watched Naruto, but I got bored with it.  It was too much like DBZ for my tastes.  Like a fight lasting two or three episodes.  Sorry, I need a quicker pace than that. 


Haruki

#13
Haha!  Realized the same thing I did with that one.

Naruto = modern day cash-cow = / =DBZ = Same thing, only for the mid-1980s to mid 1990s.

It's about the only thing (save for the hentai and 'pandering/fanservice' stuff that sells to 'otaku' in Japan) that are keeping the anime industry in anime's mother country afloat.  RxJ nearly took Gonzo down with it because Western style storytelling doesn't fly with Japanese audiences it seems.

No harm with it and it'll have its dedicated fans, no doubt.  The difference I see though is that it won't have the lasting legacy the Dragon Ball franchise has...which still has a decently-sized and loyal fanbase.  DBZ especially.....it aired at the 'right' moment.  (fumbled in syndication at first due to poor time-slot placements, but once CN gave it a prime slot in late-afternoon TV, it shot off like a rocket.....the rest is history).

Meanwhile, Naruto will not be as fondly remembered at all, ever.  We'll see 10 years from now how it pans out.

Feel free to talk all this anytime with me.  I don't want to hijack your thread.
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Aragem

I think that they are practically forcing Naruto onto everyone.  There are over 300 and counting episodes, not to mention merchandising.  DBZ was just a show back then.  And if you were lucky, you got your hands on the manga when I was a kid.  I think Naruto will go the way Pokemon and Digimon will go.  It'll have a huge flair and then fade out as something else comes along to take its place.

I don't mind long animes ranging from 50 to 100 episodes, but series that last and last, I loose interest in because you end up seeing the same thing over and over again.

However, I am noticing a trend in American Cartoons.  for the first time since the early 2000s, they are getting better and well thought out then dumb down drivel that has become the common show on networks.

Haruki

Likewise, when you get into the realm of RPGs, there's a huge disparity right now between Western-style RPGs and Japanese RPGs, the same thing is happening.  They're stagnating, we're trying to evolve and somehow trying to get back to the roots of what made this stuff popular in the first place.  I've been at it with Skyrim for a little while now, and on the consoles, have mainly been tackling the backlog of old titles I've collected from being out of the gaming loop for 10 years ('96-'06).

Heh, can't you tell.  I'm a disgruntled, jaded, old, grey-haired anime fan though?  :P

So American animators / producers are finally waking up and wising up and trying to get back in the habit of making stuff that will appeal again to audiences.  That's a good thing.  :)  I think the Internet really helps in this regard so that young talent can get noticed and possibly offered a chance to get out there, uninhibited by the suits who jam what 'they' think we'll like down our throats.

Japan, meanwhile, is at a standstill, mainly because of the economy.  If the studios there don't make it on something like Naruto, or something a bit more on the pandering side like all the visual novel-to-anime adaptions and hentai, they close down, simple as that.  Doing something with shoujo, or fantasy, or drama with a historical / political bent, are doomed to failure.  Most of what's "popular" (only with a certain sub-set of fandom) air late-nights when the otaku businessmen are home from their daily grind at the office.  Much of it back in the 1980s and 1990s would have been relegated to short OAV series, that today, can't make it because of the shrinking home video market and expensive nature of OAV production.

Hmm, hopefully others have other things to recommend.  I fear I have hijacked your thread.  *hangs head*
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Aragem

It's no problem.  We're two people talking about about things we love.

I have noticed the same thing in RPGs.  The Final Fantasy games were all the rage in the 90's, but now they have started to tale a fall, though I do have some hopes with FF XIII-2.  American RPGS such as Fall Out 3, Mass Effect series, Knights of the Old Republic, Skyrim, Dragon Age, and others have started to take a stand.  These I thoroughly enjoy today.  Back then, I loved JRPGs, but now when I play one, I keep noticing the same trend, the same plot happening again and again.  I still love Japan's work, I really do and they have spun out some real gems, but I can't help but feel that their creativity is starting to stagnant. 

Haruki

#17
Japan still has it in them, they just need to realize it.  They won't until it knocks 'em upside the head.

The 1990s were an otherworldly time for JRPGs, with many different story and character ideas, along with different engines and battle systems attempted.  Final Fantasy (with IV in 1991) invented ATB systems and gave us stories and characters we could connect with.  Capcom tried their hand with Western-style themes (Norse myth, dragons, and medieval-style buildings and landscapes) and playable characters being anthropomorphic animals (save for the lead hero and heroine) with Breath of Fire.  Nihon Falcom (more in the late '80s but did have its 3rd iteration in the early '90s) with Ys, and Kemco with Lagoon, took the stats and experience of turn-based games and applied them to a Zelda-style action-RPG platform that today's Kingdom Hearts and the like follow.  Ditto Enix's 'Soul Blazer' trilogy and Square's "Mana".....same mold.  All have highly memorable soundtracks that are nowadays, being performed by freaking pops orchestras today.  That's how memorable and innovative those times were.

Really what happened was FFVII.  That got so huge that it jaded the whole industry and it sadly hasn't looked back.  The problem with newer up-starts like Gust (who recently got bought out by some bigger company) and NIS is that their titles have the same 'pandering' issues...not just in character design.....overtly-young looking characters don't help in the 'connection' process as players like myself and I'm sure yourself too as we get older, but the same cliche stories and such.  It's unfortunately a little on the dry side.  Western audiences, as we mature, want more mature stories and characters.  We don't want to keep playing the same young characters in the same 'young' stories.   Don't get me wrong.....they are fun when I'm in the mood, but dammit, sometimes I just wanna go out there and slay a few truly fearsome dragons in an adult mindset and avatar (ala Skyrim).

I will give them (Gust) credit for trying to evolve the tired old turn-based setup though.  The player has to go through an interactive world and collect items to mix and match and create new / more powerful items to use in dungeons and bosses in their 'Atelier' series.

Namco does the Tales series differently by mixing action / button combos rather than having one pick through a menu of commands.

Atlus too, they're trying to push JRPGs in the mature / adult-minded format of storytelling with their Shin Megami Tensei titles.  They've been met with decent success Stateside.

I don't think it's so much an issue with the genre of JRPGs in whole.  It's got ideas.....I know it.  It's just like anime.  The industry there has stagnated to a point where, unless your name is Square Enix, and you can push millions of copies of Dragon Quest (in Japan) and Final Fantasy (U.S.) out the door, ...the stuff that sells to mainstream gamers, you're kinda SOL as they say.

Japanese creators need to stop being (but they won't) being xenophobic to ideas outside their own borders again like they once were back in the 'golden age' of RPGs during the 16-bit era and somewhat into the 32-bit era.

Then again, it is nice that Western companies have picked up the slack again.  They started the whole console / computer RPG gig with Ultima, Wizardy and video game adaptions based on the D&D systems of the time.  Maybe it'll infuse new and fresh ideas for the once-storied JRPG sub-genre.
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Eep!! Who's Yanking Me Away by the Ponytail?! (A&As)

Aragem

I totally agree with you on the need for older and mature characters and stories.  When I was younger, it was all so new for me.  I could relate to young characters then, especially if they were 14 to 17 years old.  But then, I got older, and hit my twenties.  Then  I found it harder to get to know the characters since they were into young love, trying to prove themselves, and grow up.  I leaned toward RPGs where the main protagonist is older and has a better mindset of their role.  Like Bioware's games.  Bioware has really hit the nail on the head with some of its games.

Like Mass Effect.  The main character Jack/Jane Shepard is around 30 years old and has a military career.  The character isn't trying to prove himself or grow up, because the job has already been done.  And the romance relationships developes and forms through dialogue as adults in the real world do. 

Haruki

#19
While Skyrim does things differently (it's an open-ended, open-world style RPG), that's the same feeling I get with it as you do with ME.  More mature-looking characters and story elements.

Like you, I still like my JRPGs, but I feel they had a better handle on things back in the '90s and they dared to try different things and write up different stories and characters.  It's why I've been buying and playing alot of older things the last few years in that area.

Hopefully you find some things among what myself and others recommended to you earlier that you'll enjoy.  The further away you get from the over-hyped titles, and so long as you steer clear of the visual-novel adaptions (this includes K'on!, even though it wasn't originally a visual novel), you'll find some stuff worth writing home about.  Be sure to let other frustrated anime fans you may know about those titles you enjoy as well.  They may just wind up having a reason to enjoy anime again.

Going by your list, you probably wouldn't like that mentioned title anyways.  It's just one I always see pop up in forums and I can only shake my head and go. "All this anime from the '90s to now and that's the 'best' to recommend?"

Japan may not be giving Western audiences much of what we seek these days (and they shouldn't since it's not our product nor are we their intended audience), but there's so much anime out there especially from the period of the late 1980s (Akira) on through today, that one need not just rely on 'present day' stuff anyways.  You'll be too busy looking into everything you may have missed when you were not in the loop and keeping up.
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Eep!! Who's Yanking Me Away by the Ponytail?! (A&As)

Jag

Honestly, I've only skimmed your conversation. :P

I just wanted to comment on DBZ. I grew up watching it, GT, and Dragonball. I remember every episode fondly. Sadly, many of the filler episodes were just stupid. There was no sense in drawing out the Frieza battle as long as they did, nor the Buu Saga...but they did and I think that damaged the show greatly. Thankfully, they have revisited the show in the last few years. Dragonball Z Kai is wonderful because they have removed all those filler episodes and parts. I think they reduced the number of episodes by almost half. They also fixed the strange colorings (such as Vegeta's hair going from brown to black randomly) and readded a lot of the blood that was removed in the original editing.

Just wanted to mention that. ^^
Ons/Offs // Request Thread (Updated 3/10/24) // Slow to Reply at the Moment

Aragem

Hmmm, if that's the case, that's something I MIGHT look into later on.  Filler episodes can ruin a show.  It was what turned me away from Naruto.  I rather see episodes that have an impact later on or help the character or story develop than try to get money out of our pockets.

Shjade

What money are they trying to get out of your pockets by adding to their show...?

Filler happens in anime when the anime series overtakes the written manga from which it's derived. At that point they can either add filler to keep the series alive while they wait for more "real" content from the manga, or they can just drop the anime series until they get that content (during which time people might lose interest and move on to other shows). It's not like they're just putting filler in there to jam as much extra merch into a series as possible; they're just trying to keep their audience while they wait for the plot to progress.

At least that's how I understand the process.
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Jag

Quote from: Shjade on January 18, 2012, 12:10:14 PM
What money are they trying to get out of your pockets by adding to their show...?

Filler happens in anime when the anime series overtakes the written manga from which it's derived. At that point they can either add filler to keep the series alive while they wait for more "real" content from the manga, or they can just drop the anime series until they get that content (during which time people might lose interest and move on to other shows). It's not like they're just putting filler in there to jam as much extra merch into a series as possible; they're just trying to keep their audience while they wait for the plot to progress.

At least that's how I understand the process.

+1

While I don't like many filler episodes...they happen because TV shows come out faster than manga/books do. While I do enjoy the shortened versions of DBZ Kai, they did remove my favorite saga entirely (the Garlic Jr Saga).

Still, DBZ Kai is a very good series, even if it technically is exactly the same. You lose fun story lines, but you also lose those three episode long power up scenes that could be done in 15 seconds. I think Naruto is one show that could do with a shortening version like DBZ did...but that will probably be a long time from now before that happens.
Ons/Offs // Request Thread (Updated 3/10/24) // Slow to Reply at the Moment

Dotley

#24
Since you liked Gankutsuou/the Count of Monte Cristo and Romeo x Juliet, I'll recommend Le Chevalier D'Eon. It has a similar animation style, fuses well with French society and historical characters (even if there are fantastical elements), and the story has a very quick pace and fights do not drag on. I'm not sure if it has a love triangle as I have only watched a few episodes so far, but from what I have seen I think it might be worth looking into based on your other interests.

It is also currently available to stream on Netflix.
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