Anime Recommendation and Suggestion Query

[David75]

Code Geass, both Seasons can be considered a nice anime, the first season beating hands down the second.
The story of a fallen prince to an empire who with incredible wits and a power to have someone to obey him no matter what, tries to have the empire fall and take over the world.
Mechs, strategies, battle for power, C.C.....

Death Note before the time skip (to prevent from spoilers I won't say more)
A genius on earth stumbles upon a particular note book. If he writes a name in it with the image of the person in mind, said person dies. If details for way of dying are written, the scenario will play provided it's possible for the person to follow it.
A story about a guy who thought he was so good, wanted a better world and ends up... well you'll see.

Macross Frontier
Typical love triangle caught in a Space Opera. Worth watching for the many eyegams you may experience. It's useless to watch it with over compressed video files. Seek for HD files only (true ones)

Kamichu!
Tells the story of a young school teen girl who is a God. Nice and peaceful slice of life show, with a very nice feel to it.

Paradise Kiss
Tells the story of a teen girl entering the fashion world as a model for a young team of creators. Nice OST with nice images, overall nice to watch.

OAV: 5 centimeters per second
It's an animated movie, not a series. But it's worth watching.
I won't spoil it too much, it's about how life separates people eventhough they have feelings (but any description lacks a lot compared to the actual show you have to watch)

There are numerous other shows, but without any specifics the risk is to give to many answers that do not fit preferences. Eventhough at times, you can be caught from the left by a show you thought you'd never be interrested in...

[My_Akuma_Killer]

I have to suggest "Black Cat", For those of you who don't know, its about an assassin of the infamous Chronos organization (they kindof own the word) named Train, who turned sweeper (Bounty Hunter) who teams up with a partner named sven. They are out for a meal ticket when they keep getting involved with another former chronos member who has mastered the power of chi. Theres alot of different weapons, powers, and comedy.

[Death BOO Z]

I like it how every anime invents a new name to call an hired-gun.

it's like someone says "sure, they fight and kill people, but it's okay, since they're sweepers\getbackers\grandeirs\travelers\space waiters from the future, but the people who they fight? they're bad people, they kill for money".

[My_Akuma_Killer]

Hey, its been all throughout history, there will be even more, i mean i can think of one now, Throat Seeker, there ya go. However, they could be doing worse things with their killing talents, no one said it was a glamorous trade to be a bounty hunter or assassin, i wouldn't call them bad people though, but i guess it depends on the person. Either way, still a good Manga lol

[Kraco]

The Black Cat anime sucked fifty meters long noodles and shouldn't be recommended to anybody in this thread. The Black Cat thread is filled with naught but people complaining how bad the latter half of the show was (when it wasn't following the manga anymore but instead the script written by a five years old kindergartener).

[Ryllharu]

Seconded. The Black Cat anime is garbage. The manga is the only thing worth reading, and is quite a deal better.

Both of Yabuki Kentaro's series got watered down and butchered when they were adapted to anime. (He did the art for To-Luv-Ru, but is not the author). It's a lot like Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina, Negima)

[Death BOO Z]

blahh. I always mix up black cat and getbackers. they're both the same piece of uninspired, go with the flow, do whatever feels right, crap.
and I listen to the same album while reading them, so I'm even more confused about the difference.

I'm looking for a short anime\ova to watch, preferably action, but can be anything that keeps me focused enough (watching ARIA is a bitch). something around two hours total, one or two parts (so I could split it comfortably).
any suggestions?

[shinta|hikari]

What about Mnemosyne? Or Hellsing Ultimate OVA? Or Kara no Kyoukai?

I'm not sure if you are already watching or have seen these though.

[Death BOO Z]

watched mynsemomyse (actually very good). I'm going to wait on hellsing to finish before jumping the bandwagon again. what the kara kyauki thing about?

[shinta|hikari]

Here is the link to the thread

Kraco recently called it a masterpiece, and while I am still a bit hesitant to agree until I see the whole thing, it is a definite must watch.

[The Heretic Azazel]

Mnemosyne is filled with yuri loli goodness.

Karas is excellent too.

[Ryllharu]

There aren't a whole lot of OVAs that are not tied to a series and aren't flat-out hentai. However, there are some really good ones.

Kara no Kyoukai is a good one for sure, especially if you've already seen Mnemosyne. It is a Type-Moon series (Fate/Stay Night, Tsukihime) about a woman named Shiki who like the protagonist from Tsukihime, also posesses the Eyes of Death Perception. Anything she sees has certain lines on it, when those lines are cut, whatever it is, dies, usually into many pieces. The series jumps around a lot in time, but it all seems to be coming together in the 5th episode/movie, due out soon.

R.O.D: Of all OVAs not associated with a series that preceded it, Read or Die is among the best. Yomiko Readman is a bibliomaniac, but she also works for the British Goverment as one of their elite agents. Her particular talent is manipulating paper.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation: A story of a brother and sister bounty hunter, the series follows the sister, Iria, as she is drawn into conspiracies, ambushes, and jobs in pursuit of a serial killer known only as Zeiram. (Coincidentally, this is the first anime I ever bought, many years ago.)

Golden Boy: One of the pivotal series in comedy for many years, the series follows Kintaro Oe, the world's greatest student, on his perverted journey of knowledge and learning, meeting many a sexy lady along the way. Will he someday save the world?

Dominion Tank Police: A comedy/action series of sorts, follows a fiery police woman who destroyed her commanding officer's prized tank, only to cobble it back together to something only barely larger than a motorcycle, in pursuit of domestic terrorist catgirls.

FLCL: A young boy named Naota is hanging out with Mamimi, the girlfriend of Naota's absentee brother. Their relationship is an uneasy one, since Mamimi seems to enjoy teasing Naota quite a bit. Suddenly, their time together is interrupted by the arrival of a seemingly insane girl on a motorscooter. She runs over Naota and then whacks him in the head with her guitar...
[shamelessly copied from AniDB]

Karas: Shinjuku, the near future. A wave of multiple murders has hit, shocking even for this crime-wracked city. The victims are always drained of their body fluids ... and there is always a sole survivor. Behind the murders stands Ekou. For centuries, he was the Karas, the guardian of the town, but he no longer heeds the will of the city, and is intent on destroying it. There is only one hope for Shinjuku -- Otoha, the one who is to be the new Karas. He must now battle Ekou's forces to save the city and its inhabitants, be they human or youkai.
[again, shameless copied from AniDB]
Really beautiful animation here though.

Kite, Mezzo Forte, and Kite: Liberator: [ADULT CONTENT] The hentai aspects of these aside, there is some really excellent action in these three OVAs. All of them take place in the same universe, and there is a follow-up series to Mezzo Forte (usually called just Mezzo, or Mezzo DSA). The two Kite films deal with assassins as the protagonists, and Mezzo deals with a jack-of-all-trades trio, led by an cop forced out of the deptarment, and a female practitioner of Jeet Kune Do.

Macross Plus: Of all of the Macross series, this OVA probably has the best flight and combat scenes. No need to really see anything before or after this OVA, it is more than capable of standing on it's own. Takes place between Macross:SDF-1 and Macross 7 (but the animation far exceeds both due to the OVA budget). Test Pilots, need I say more?

Munto and Munto 2: I can't say I have seen both of these, but I've seen clips of it, and it is very nicely animated for 2003. KyoAni (Kanon 2, AIR, FMP, Lucky Star), so you know it must be halfway decent at the worst.
Akuto, the main source of energy is running low and the Heavens, a world of islands, hidden beyond time, floating above ours, has united against the Magical Kingdom whom uses the most energy. To save both the Magical Kingdom and the Heavens and restore the flow of akuto, the Magical King Munto must follow a vision and find the girl Yumemi in the lower world. Yumemi herself is just a normal girl except that she is the only one who can see the islands of the Heavens floating above. When Munto appears before her she starts thinking about hers and others responsibility to the world.
[description shameless copied from ANN].

Re: Cutie Honey Revitalization of the the classic series staring a suggestively clad cosplaying vigilantee (and occasionally her close friend) defending the city against the evil organization known as Panther Claw. Excellent animation, reminiscent of Gurren Lagann, but more stylized.

Nurse Witch Komugi: A magical girl series that's more about cosplay and humor than anything of real substance, a true parody series. Really strange and pretty funny. Hits everything from internet humor to biker gangs. Komugi, transformed into a magical nurse in order defend against the king of viruses, also has a rival in the form of Magical Maid Koyori.

I'd suggest the Project A-ko series of films, but going back to 1987 might be a bit too far.

[DDBen]

I know it´s a bit vague, but:

What are some of the MUST-SEE shows of the past years?
I already saw the popular stuff like Death Note, Eureka Seven, Code Geass, Mushishi or Claymore. What´s there else, regardless of genre, as long as it´s just "great".


PS: And i still am looking for a romantic-anime like School Days, haha.

... I think the guys above are going a bit to old school with the recommendations. I'll stick to some more recent stuff and agree with the above were noted.

Macross Frontier: Real Robots/Romance/Singing Top shelf animation its a 25th anniversary show for the Macross franchise assuming you've seen any of the previous shows the amount of "fanwank" in this show is off the charts. Even if you haven't the visuals are beyond compare especially if you get the Bluray rips from Thora. The music is also very very strong in this show were talking the top 5 music cd's sold by amazon japan are all Macross Frontier CD/singles and all 3 of the cd's have hit at least #3 in japan.

Spice and Wolf: Romance/Barter its really character driven so if you like characters like C.C. go for it. The females lead is awesome.

Gurren Lagann: Classic Super Robots show. This one has a extremely fast pace where they really only do boss fights. No fillers and its constantly being pushed forward. Its also kind of wacky though so don't expect much realism out of it.

Air Gear: comedy/slice of life/tournament/Sports Beware this one contains a lot of nudity if you end up with DVD rips if not you will have censorship crows a bit. Anyway this is a hard one to explain boil down the plot its about Rocket Powered Roller skates if you can get past that its a hilarious show where that is just what they use to battle basically doing extreme stunts and just fighting. Its one you have to watch.

Shigofumi: Its about a girl who delivers letters from the dead. Its also pretty warped so be ready.

Major: Sports(Baseball) This one is nothing like your average sports anime its less about the good guys always win and much more of the journey to a goal. Each season of this is distinctly very different and most have large time skips between them.

Black Lagoon: Basically follows a boat of people around who live in the Ghetto and do odd jobs like delivery or retrieval of black market goods.

Moyashimon Tales of Agriculture: (comedy, slice of life, supernatural) This is a really strange anime with a main character who can see Microbes with his bare eye's. Its strange and can get incredibly disgusting but its entertaining.

Kekkaishi: Very underrated show and its a longer one at 52 episodes. Its about two families guarding the same piece of land from evil entities both families have someone they believe is the true successor. Essentially supernatural battles mainly fought by priests who make barriers to destroy evil spirits who are trying to use the area they protect to power up.

Monster: Seriously just watch this one. Its the story of a doctor who saves someone he shouldn't have and then spends several years of his life on the run trying to fix his mistake. It doesn't really look like anything else and frankly the story is amazing.

Bokurano: The story of 15 Children who end up with a impossible task. This is a really twisted story of how each of them deals with the reality they have to die or everyone else will.

Shonen Onmyouji: from ANN "Abe no Masahiro is the grandson of the great omnyouji Abe no Semei, who passed his teachings on to his grandson. Masahiro lost his sixth sense and the ability to see spirits, but with Mokkun as his guide, he works to become his grandfather's successor." Basically your watching as Masahiro grows into the role of Onmyouji gaining the trust of the 12 gods that work for his grandfather and protecting the Realm from evil spirits. Its a more historical show set well into the past but you might find it interesting.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: This series has 2 distinct orders you can watch it in. I find the broadcast order more entertaining for the first watch through. Also note the first episode either way isn't like the rest of the series so you need to give this at least 2 episodes before you give up. A sequel should be coming out for it this year as well. Some people love this show and some hate it. As one of the people who found it incredibly entertaining I'm forced to recommend it however.

Well that is what I can come up with at the moment. I basically listed series from 2004-present as I felt that is a pretty fair period for the last few years.

Bonus recommendation: A older series (1999) that most people haven't seen but is awesome it The Legend of Black Heaven. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend tracking it down.

P.S. Romance like School Days Kinda.
Well you won't find a exact match but there are a few very twisted Harem/romance anime's that have come out post school days. These are not must watch animies for the most part just on topic for your second question.

H2O Footprints in the Sand: Expect mach truck sized plot holes and WTF moments but its a rather dark natured harem anime. (please note this is down here because its not a great anime like the other its just got some things in common with school days and is watchable if not messed up)

Shuffle: This one is a very light hearted Harem that has dark undertones. Its not like the "nice boat" ending in school days but its a Harem with a conclusion that I really liked.

Myself Yourself: Another twisted Harem anime this one is fairly close to how screwed up school days was so you might find yourself liking it.

Ef a tale of Memories/Melodies: Very twisted and artistic portrayals of screwed up people getting together and working their way through some serious problems.

Kanon(2006)/Clannad: These I'd consider must watch anime. They are a mix of Comedy and Drama and have significant highs and lows of both. They are both from the same studio and have some similarities but are overall very different and both are well worth watching. Note Kanon has 2 versions you want the 24 episode series from 2006 not the 13 or so episode OVA from 2004.

[Ryllharu]

... I think the guys above are going a bit to old school with the recommendations. I'll stick to some more recent stuff and agree with the above were noted.

Series widely available in 2001 (and very much so available in DVD rip batches today) and forward are too old school? We're lucky I didn't go back to the 1990s more extensively.

That aside, while I would go after certain series on your list are I would most definitely consider not "must-see," you caught me on Moyashimon. I can't believe I forgot that one.

However...

P.S. Romance like School Days Kinda.
Well you won't find a exact match but there are a few very twisted Harem/romance anime's that have come out post school days. These are not must watch animies for the most part just on topic for your second question.

H2O Footprints in the Sand: Expect mach truck sized plot holes and WTF moments but its a rather dark natured harem anime. (please note this is down here because its not a great anime like the other its just got some things in common with school days and is watchable if not messed up)

Shuffle: This one is a very light hearted Harem that has dark undertones. Its not like the "nice boat" ending in school days but its a Harem with a conclusion that I really liked.

Myself Yourself: Another twisted Harem anime this one is fairly close to how screwed up school days was so you might find yourself liking it.

Ef a tale of Memories/Melodies: Very twisted and artistic portrayals of screwed up people getting together and working their way through some serious problems.

Kanon(2006)/Clannad: These I'd consider must watch anime. They are a mix of Comedy and Drama and have significant highs and lows of both. They are both from the same studio and have some similarities but are overall very different and both are well worth watching. Note Kanon has 2 versions you want the 24 episode series from 2006 not the 13 or so episode OVA from 2004.

Kanon (2004) was not an OVA, it was broadcast just the same. Toei only started doing movies/OVAs of the KEY-authored series after KyoAni got the rights to produce AIR. A technicality, but I figured I'd point that out.

I have to say your definition of "twisted" is a great deal tamer than my own.

Myself;Yourself doesn't belong on this list for one reason. It was aired the season right after School Days, so all of us watchers of School Days (MFauli included) had great expectations for this series, that promised a similarly dark side to it. HUGE letdown. There was simply no depth to any of the characters the same way that School Days or even Shuffle! had. We had lame character archetypes like cheerful girl becomes quiet possibly traumatized, shallow step mother (who I had hoped had more depth to her, sadly did not). Myself;Yourself seemed like a series that continually hinted there was a lot of backstory or a great deal of depth behind it (it was marketed that way as well), but there was really nothing at all beneath the surface.
(Plus I knew MFauli had watched it, and yes, sometimes I do check for responses in series threads when I recommend them.)

I am also surprised that anyone who made it all the way through H2O would recommend it to anyone, at all, no matter the similarities to the request. You did point out reservations though.

Shuffle! I think is a bit too light hearted to compare to School Days, but it does have an arc or two that fit the bill.

Kanon and Clannad however, lack a lot of the mental and psychological interplay that School Days has.

All good series mind you (except Myself;Yourself and H2O), but MFauli is really picky when it comes to School Days series (as we all are), and I don't think most of them are a decent comparison to the depth of character development in School Days.

[DDBen]

Kanon (2004) was not an OVA, it was broadcast just the same. Toei only started doing movies/OVAs of the KEY-authored series after KyoAni got the rights to produce AIR. A technicality, but I figured I'd point that out.

your right of course the animation in Kanon 04 is way to crappy to be OVA anyway. Doesn't change much though anyone looking to watch Kanon should stick to the 06 version.

I have to say your definition of "twisted" is a great deal tamer than my own.

Myself;Yourself doesn't belong on this list for one reason. It was aired the season right after School Days, so all of us watchers of School Days (MFauli included) had great expectations for this series, that promised a similarly dark side to it. HUGE letdown. There was simply no depth to any of the characters the same way that School Days or even Shuffle! had. We had lame character archetypes like cheerful girl becomes quiet possibly traumatized, shallow step mother (who I had hoped had more depth to her, sadly did not). Myself;Yourself seemed like a series that continually hinted there was a lot of backstory or a great deal of depth behind it (it was marketed that way as well), but there was really nothing at all beneath the surface.
(Plus I knew MFauli had watched it, and yes, sometimes I do check for responses in series threads when I recommend them.)

Thing is Myself Yourself and really anything post and at the end of School days was greatly hindered by certain axe murderers. He asked for recent series somewhat like School days I maintain its along the same vein though clearly not as good. Then again nothing is identical to School days and your arguments seem to be they should be. I can say the same thing about True Tears which is a good series but by no means like school days and something I find about equally as far away as Myself Yourself.

I am also surprised that anyone who made it all the way through H2O would recommend it to anyone, at all, no matter the similarities to the request. You did point out reservations though.

I only pointed it out because it has a "nice boat" like moment. Honestly it was pretty bad as a series the very ending was especially terrible and many of the plot twists were just confusing and not what I'd call good. Still the darker aspects of it were pretty dark and you do have school day like moments of liking and hating characters as they change during the series so I felt it was worth mentioning. Also note that this is one of the few series at least recent ones I can think of where you actually really despise the male lead at times in a degree that I could equate to school days.

Shuffle! I think is a bit too light hearted to compare to School Days, but it does have an arc or two that fit the bill.

Kanon and Clannad however, lack a lot of the mental and psychological interplay that School Days has.[/QUOTE]

I actually think all of these are very similar. All 3 start off fairly light hearted and funny. The thing is as stuff develops there are some very dark points in the series. A big difference though is the main lead as in most series tends to make things better for the various girls while in school days its just taking advantage of them and making everything much worse. Thing is above he said romance anime "like" school days. Short of an exact match, which I can't think of anything that would qualify, I think these have a general mix of light and dark sections that match up pretty well. Kanon in particular has some extremely dark points that will really mess with your emotions.

All good series mind you (except Myself;Yourself and H2O), but MFauli is really picky when it comes to School Days series (as we all are), and I don't think most of them are a decent comparison to the depth of character development in School Days.

Fair enough I don't lurk in this section enough to know anyone's exact taste. I also agree School days had a much deeper and darker level of character development then most series. I was just giving a few options that might work based on some newer stuff. It just seems our way of comparing series as being "like school days" is different. You feel its based purely on a level of character development and I based mine on somewhat dark Romantic series. I would argue your recommendations of True Tears and certainly Chaos head are at least equally as far off as any of mine. Saikano on the other hand I've never seen so I can't comment on it.

[Ryllharu]

Saikano on the other hand I've never seen so I can't comment on it.

Then I highly recommend it!

[shinta|hikari]

That is probably the shortest post you have ever placed on this thread. It actually caught me off guard and made me wonder if someone else used your account and made that post.

[Ryllharu]

I never miss the chance to make a recommendation, even if it may only require a quote and five words.

...now I want to make a long recommendation post, but I do requests, not blind suggestions. I can't seem to generate the inspiration.


EDIT:

Browsing through the thread, I came across a few other series that I haven't had cause to recommend in a while (or forgot about).

Short Episodes Theme: I think a lot of series like this are glanced over because of the short episode format or because they simply end up overlooked. However, some of these titles accomplish so much more in half-sized episodes than longer series.

REC: Just nine 12 minute episodes, this is a romantic drama about an ad agency salaryman and suddenly-homeless rookie voice actress. The series is really cute, and the heroine fairly irrestistible. If you just want something sweet to watch in an afternoon, give this one a try.

Doujin Work: The heroine here is lazy, and when she is dragged to a Con by a friend who heads up a popular douijn circle (and makes a lot of money at it from her eyes), she decides that she will make a living becoming a doujin artist. Of course, she sucks at art. A funny series with a lot of otaku references, consider this a poor man's Genshiken.

Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu: With a unique art style (almost western) and a surprisingly intertesting plot, this is a series that got a lot of attention, was forgotten, and now that it is licensed in the US, gets under the spotlight again. Follows Alice, a girl who always has been fascinated with witches, as she is transported to another world were witches are very real. She makes a few friends, and ultimately has to save the world, with all sorts of twists along the way. Reminds me a lot of a younger girls' version of Now and Then, Here and There.

Detroit Metal City: For any metal fans, anyone who has seen Metalacolypse, or anyone who likes lots of swearing in their hilarious comedy series, this is a definite watch. Timid male who dreams of singing vapid, terrible happy-folk-pop songs becomes the lead singer of the most hardcore metal band in all of Japan.

Galaxy Angel (the original, the sequels cut back the ecchi of the costume designs and other things that made the series fun): This series is totally and utterly vapid. The plot doesn't matter (girls in the space-military searching for lost technology that they usually forget about), no character development needed either. This is extremely light-hearted slapstick comedy at most shamefully enjoyable.

Final Approach: Another "suddenly wife" romantic comedy series. Boy lives with sister, government discovers birth rates are down, government forces girl onto boy (girl agreed ahead of time). Surprisingly, they even tackle a side plot in this short series.

Candy Boy: Sisterly love, family relationships, an extra-clingly younger schoolmate, and a lot of cute humor. For a web series, the animation is very well done, though the resolutions you'll find subs at are a bit lacking.

[Kraco]

Neo Ranga also uses the half-length episode format and does it rather well. A good series all in all.

[Dark Dragon]

Jeez, looks like my power supply died just in time for Ryllharu to bombarded this thread with suggestions before i could. (i should have known better than to use the one that came with the case)

@MFauli

Anyways, i can't say for sure that these series i'm about to recommend are definite "must watch" but i do feel that all of them are solid and deserve to have more people watch them.

Angel Heart

The spiritual sequel to the classic "City Hunter" series. It's fine to start on this show even if you've never watched the original city hunter because the story is not dependent upon your knowledge of city hunter, so at best you might miss a few small reference. The show feature a new female main character "Glass Heart" who is an ex-assassin that tried to commit suicided and later survived through an illegal heart transplant. The heart that was given to her belong to City Hunter Saeba Ryo's wife who died in a traffic accident. "Glass Heart" then experienced a rare medical phenomenon where she begin to recall memories that belong to the previous owner of the heart and this prompt for her to go on a search for Saeba Ryo.

Black Lagoon

I can't believe no one has recommended this yet. I retract my earlier statement because this show is a must watch since it is easily one of the best action anime, period. The story is about a business man who got kidnapped by pirates during a business trip and certain events eventually led him to join and become one of them.

Legend of the Condor Hero I/II

Based on the insanely popular fiction books by Jinyong. I personally felt that these were faithful interpretation of the novel but it's hard to do those books justice in a short anime series. If possible i would like to recommend the live action hong kong version instead since those are vastly superior but since this is an anime recommendation thread, you should try watching these first to see if you like the setting. The story take place in ancient china and revolve around an orphan and his various adventures to eventually led him to became known as "Condor Hero". The series is heavily influenced by martial arts and the concept of chi/ki granting the the user the ability to defy the laws of physics (think DBZ in ancient china with a deeper story and slightly less ridiculous powers).

Those are some great action series for you to try since it seems like those before me have got the other genre covered.