OK motherfuckers, it's been 2 years since I've watched some anime, what have I missed?
Will be finishing up Toaru Majutsu no Index in the meantime. Let's see if I can get myself motivated to watch some more anime.
OK motherfuckers, it's been 2 years since I've watched some anime, what have I missed?
Will be finishing up Toaru Majutsu no Index in the meantime. Let's see if I can get myself motivated to watch some more anime.
two years? so we're looking at Winter '09 through fall 2010?
Not sure what you're into, so I'll just recommend whatever. I just picked what I felt were like the best titles, then threw in some that are really popular and considered good (even if I haven't seen them). Then I threw in some other ones (Star Driver) just cause if you were into mecha or something
Tatami Galaxy - This is the third series from Masaaki Yuasa (director of Mind Game, Kemonozume, Kaiba). It's about this college dude who has a disappointing life. its sort of a groundhog day type situation (only iirc he doesn't remember his alternate lives), where each episode starts with him choosing a different path in college, and then how his life plays out from that. There's a lot more to it than that, and but I won't spoil anything for you. I really enjoyed it, and its definitely my top recommendation. The art style is experimental, much like all of Yuasa's other works.
Hatsukoi Limited - This is like a web of high/middle school crushes and romance, with a giant cast of characters. I thought it was well done and enjoyed watching it.
Eden of the East - Dude loses his memories and a chick meets him and he has a lot of money, and I'm not sure what to say or what would be a spoiler. Entertaining show, good characters.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - A remake of FMA, following close to the manga. I've only seen the first few eps, but I plan to watch through it at some point.
K-ON/s2 - High school girls being cute, the epitome of "moe." It's like Azumanga Daioh or Lucky Star, only with a spice of music/bands.
Denpa Teki na Kanojo - murders, psychological, crazy, entertaining. Only two eps in this OVA, but it's worth watching.
Bakemonogatari - Boy solves super natural mysteries surrounding a handful of girls. This show isn't really about the supernatural, but rather about the boys relationship with the girls. Lots of talking and random chatter.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 - Girl and a boy are out when Tokyo is hit with a massive earthquake. The show follows them as they get home.
Kimi ni Todoke - rejected outcasted socially awkward chick meets a boy, and the show is about this girl and this boy and their relationship. Really heartwarming shoujo.
Sora no Woto - More cute girls being cute, only this one does military in stead of music. a handful of girls are soldiers at an outpost/town.
Durarara - I've only seen the first 12 or so of this. It's about kids and other people in Tokyo and gangs and supernatural stuff.
Katanagatari - This one is about a girl who gets help from a swordsman who doesn't fight with swords, and their journey to get 12 swords or something.
Angel Beats - in the afterlife, high schoolers fight against the system, so as not to be reincarnated or something. comedy, drama, action, comedy, hint of romance. Crazy antics.
Working - Haven't seen it, but I've heard it's really good. It's on my to-watch list.. Comedy about people who work at a restaurant or something.
Amagami SS - VN dating sim, large cast of girls. I haven't seen this, but you an probably fill in the blank. I hear it's really good, and plan to check it out.
Shiki - Don't know much about this, but again, heard it was good, plan to check it out. Just look at the anidb page.
Kuragehime - same as above.
Star Driver - again, haven't seen. About a boy in a school and he pilots mechs and stuff.
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt - crazy awesome, super crude content, doesn't take anything seriously. Definitely gotta watch it.
yeah.. I haven't watched many '10 titles at all.. But I think that's a pretty good idea of whats new/good/you should check out. (And also a reasonable length)
edit: added some brief descriptions.
Last edited by Pandadice; Thu, 01-06-2011 at 01:09 AM.
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Let's just say anything released in 2009 and 2010 I haven't watched, thanks for those titles, I'll look into them.
The Last Season's Top 3 thread covers some of GW's most recommended from June 2009 onwards. Pandadice's list matches that pretty well.Originally Posted by Munsu
The results of late may not represent GW as a whole since fewer have been commenting, but I guess that applies to this general recommendation thread anyway.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
In addition to Pandadice's list (I strongly second Denpa Teki na Kanojo, Sora no Woto, Durarara, Kimi ni Todoke, Shiki, and Katanagatari)
Nodame Cantabile: Finale - If you were watching Nodame
Eve no Jikan Gekijouban - compiling the Eve no Jikan web series about androids with additional scenes.
Tears to Tiara - A bit of a disjointed ending in my opinion, but otherwise a solid entry into the fantasy genre. The original work was created by the same company who created Utawarerumono.
Sengoku Basara - Highly stylized version of the Warring Countries Era (Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu). Lots of yelling and over the top.
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom - If you liked Noir or Madlax, you'll like this one. If you hated either of those two, this one is much better. Underworld, assassins, etc.
Cross Game - I'm pretty sure you read Adachi's manga of this, so here is the anime. It was an excellent adaptation.
Shangri-La - Series about a world dominated by a Carbon market with much of the world driven into poverty as aggressive forest growth takes over most of Japan. Class division, market manipulation, and Range Murata's character designs (Last Exile). Not a great series overall, but interesting.
Canaan - Terrorists, mild superhuman abilities, really interesting characters and great villains. Strong cast.
Spice and Wolf II - If you watched the first, you'll want to see this one. More Middle Age mercantilism!
Summer Wars (movie) - Math genius gets invited to a girl's summer home for a reunion, and also in the process gets framed for hacking the world's most popular online game/community.
Nyan Koi! - One of the stronger entries of the harem genre in recent years, guy gets cursed by a cat statue when he accidently breaks it. He has to help out 100 cats or be turned into one. Well developed characters, great cast, well animatedm and good mix of humor and drama.
Letter Bee (Tegami Bachi) - It's hard to really describe quickly, but it is a depressed world where letter carriers (bees) are the only ones who can easily traverse area plagues by monsters. There is definitely a lot more going on than what they tell you in the first season. If you can find humor in the main character crying every episode, it's a strong series.
Those are my suggestions for 2009, I'll cover 2010 later today. I skipped anything Pandadice covered.
Finished the first series of Index, and the 2nd half was utter crap. Then went and tried the first of Guin Saga... what an annoying episode, but will try the series again later as it seems like we'll get some nice fights in an epic fantasy setting.. but the dialogue was terrible.
Now trying Canaan.
Keep the recs coming.
Comes to mind as epic shit that came out in the last 2 years:
- Bakemonogatari,
- Katanagatari,
- The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi (movie),
- Cross Game,
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,
- Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (movie)
- Kimi ni Todoke
As maybes i'd go with:
- Denpa Teki na Kanojo ( fucking awesome, got canceled after 2 OVAs because of Japan's shit taste ),
- Angel Beats ( I loved it, but not for any reasons you would. As a whole it felt rushed )
- Nyan Koi ( it was surprisingly goo no doubt about that, but i don't think i can be objective about it since my expectations were so damn low when i first watched it )
Last edited by Archangel; Thu, 01-06-2011 at 04:41 PM.
Someone mentioned I missed one of the seasons of 2009, and they were right. So this isn't strictly 2010 animes, just the other half of the list I posted this morning (again skipping anything Pandadice got).
Kaichou wa Maid-sama - If you feel the need to watch a romance series, this one is one of the better ones. Average animation but strong cast, pacing was a bit slow at times, but a good non-harem romance entry.
Otome Youkai Zakuro - Following that trend, another romance-centric series, but with a bigger focus on coming to an understanding with outcasts or otherwise "undesirable" segments of culture. There is a bit of mystery in the series, very strong cast and characters mixed with good action scenes set in an alternate Meiji Era. Harem free, everyone matches into very complimentary pairs (one set of three).
Giant Killing - A slight misfire depending on your expectations, but another sports series, focused on soccer. An underdog series (as most sports series are). I can't speak too much more to this one. From the sound of things, despite its flaws, it was entertaining.
Break Blade (ongoing OVA/movie series) - Chronicles a small nation being invaded by one of the two larger ones it is caught between, primarily due to resources. The main cast all went to military academy together in a neighboring nation, but are now on various different sides of the conflict. The lead is an aberration in society, he is an "un-sorcerer," one of the absolute few in the world who cannot manipulate quartz that is used in nearly every facet of life. He finds himself at the controls of an ancient mech, similar to the ones used by all of the militaries, but not functional for any sorcerer.
Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail (ongoing OVA series) - Continues the story of Black Lagoon, as Roberta (the maid) returns to Roanapur.
Bakuman. (ongoing) - Details the efforts of an aspiring author and artist pair of mangaka as they strive to get published in Jump (JACK in the series). Strong mix of comedy and manufactured drama, good animation, occasionally slow pacing. Good cast and strong personalities behind each of the characters.
Letter Bee Reverse (ongoing) - Sequel to the aforementioned Letter Bee. The series gets more serious in this season, less crying, more conspiracies. It goes without saying that if you didn't like the first season, you don't have to bother with this one, but there is a more cohesive plot this season.
Shinryaku! Ika Musume - If you're in the market for something light and stupid, look no further. Each episode is divided into 3 parts so no segment really drags on more than it has to. Squid girl invades seaside town, gets pressed into service at a local surf shack. Hijinks ensue. Various extreme personalities matched with good cast to fill those. Animation is consistent, and matches the tone of the series.
Rideback - Motorcycles that transform (stand up for maneuverability, have arms for stabilizing or holding things). A former aspiring dancer enters into college with an early age injury, listless and without direction. By accident she stumbles into a club of rideback enthusiasts, and the story goes from there. Governments and terrorists are involved. Good animation, somewhat forgettable cast, but good characters. Excellent mechanical design.
Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari (OVA series) - Another entry in the Tenchi Muyo multiverse, although you certainly don't need to have seen any of those to enjoy this one. Tenchi's half-brother, Kenshi is summoned to a parallel world where bio-mechanical humanoid weapons are used commonly in warfare (dominated by women) between nations. He is of course caught up in the conflict. A very strong entry in the harem, action, and mecha genres. Very strong cast (mix of relative unknowns and veterans), great animation, strong well-developed characters, and a good story to wrap it all in. Not everything is completely explained, but with careful observation one can tell that the world they inhabit is completely thought out.
If you feel like watching full combat magical girl anime and want to compress an entire season into a single, shiningly animated movie, you can watch the first Nanoha movie, which covers the entire first season of the franchise in about two hours. I'm not sure it is really to your taste, but worth mentioning anyway.
Edit: I forgot. As Arch pointed out, the Evangelion remake movies have been coming out, and they are awesome.
Last edited by Ryllharu; Thu, 01-06-2011 at 04:57 PM.
I second Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari and Bakuman, but the later only in manga format
Ooh man, forgot Cencoroll, only one of the coolest OVAs in recent history. It's only 30 mins long, but definitely worth watching. In fact, I'd say that because it's just 30mins, you don't really have an excuse not to watch it
user posted image
Some of the 2009 ones may have aired their 1st seasons in 2008. I am only covering the stuff the others have not mentioned yet (unless I missed it and did a duplicate by accident).
2009
Birdy the Mighty S1 and S2 - Alien police woman gets shares a body with a high school boy due to an accident. Has really good parts when the story turns serious. Great action as well.
Chrome Shelled Regios - Not sure if this is really 2009, but it centers on a guy who transfers to a different city to find a new life after being exiled from his old home. He looks mild and weak, but in reality is absurdly strong. Set in a post apocalyptic world. Has harem elements. Good show for those who love Rurounikenshin and Trigun.
GA Geijutsuka Art Class - Great comedy with an art theme. A funnier Hidamari Sketch. It is still slice of life, but trades relaxation for ROFL moments. I personally loved this one to death.
Hanasakeru Seishounen - Josei series. Has lots of bishounen, but underneath that seemingly shallow exterior lies a good story with good characters. It has political themes and some mystery as well.
Kara no Kyoukai - Must see for anyone who liked Type Moon works. The last few movies came out in 2009, so you should catch up if you haven't seen them.
Kemono no Souja Erin - Fantasy story that focuses on a girl named Erin. Set in a world with powerful beasts used for war. While the story does eventually delve into war and politics, it begins by establishing the characters and the world around them by showing Erin learn how to become a beast player (tamer/caretaker).
Kobato - CLAMP series. Really fluffy, but has a solid and touching story. Episodic at first but eventually concludes the main plot.
Natsu no Arashi! season 1 and 2 - Time traveling and ghosts. Wacky comedy from the author of School Rumble.
Natsume's Book of Friends season 1 and 2 - This is an excellent show about Natsume, who can see spirits. He then finds his grandmother's old book which holds great power since it allows the wielder to control the youkai whose names are contained in it. Natsume is then hunted down by youkai, but this doesn't deter him from staying true to himself and help even those that try to harm him. Touching at times, and quite funny as well.
Ristorante Paradiso - A Josei series about a certain restaurant. The main character finds herself attracted to an old server in a ristorante, and decides to work there. The value of this show is not really the plot (which is still good), but the setting and atmosphere. It really has a calm elegant feel to it.
Spice and Wolf season 1 and 2 - A wolf god in the form of a girl meets a merchant, and they start traveling. Has lots of wit, which is why I love it.
Tatakau Shisho - Set in the world where Librarians are tasked to keep "books", which are a record of a person's life that is delivered to their loved one when they die. Has lots of action, and a pretty good conclusion. I personally didn't like it so much, probably because it is so hard to get attached to any character wince they die left and right.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Murder mystery on an isolated island with a supernatural twist. Successor of the Higurashi niche.
2010
Baka to Test to Shōkanjū - Really absurd comedy. This is a must watch because of Hideyoshi.
Bungaku Shoujo movie - Sleeper hit for me. I just recently watched this and I found it absolutely terrific. It seems so lighthearted at first, then turns dark and yandere later on. This is about a guy with a dark past, and a girl who eats stories (literally).
Ookiku Furikabutte season 1 and 2 - Best baseball anime period.
House of Five Leaves - Period piece about a cowardly samurai who gets dragged into a gang. This does not have much action in it. It is more focused on character development, and ends with just that. Gotwoot subbed this, so it is obligatory LOL.
Mitsudomoe - Crazy comedy about elementary school triplets with extreme personalities. The comedy stems from misunderstandings, 90% of which are perverted, with the remaining 10% pretty much hopelessly deviant.
Gundam Unicorn - New gundam OAVs. This is very similar to the original Gundam series with Amuro. The art is of course fantastic, and the story seems pretty solid so far.
Seikimatsu Occult Academy - Another Gotwoot project. The show has a lot of occult references from time travel to out of body experiences to aliens. Still, the show focuses on character development, particularly how the pussy main male character becomes decent enough to tolerate. Maya, the main female character, is more than enough reason to watch this.
Peace.
What was the anime that had some dude who is often hallucinating, particularly with a chick from a ero-game. Then there are people being killed, and the dude is getting messages through the internet, and then there are chicks with swords.
Sounds like Chaos;Head.
Chaos Head?
EDIT: Didn't notice it was already answered.
Peace.
Yep, Chaos Head. That's the one. Watching Durarara!! right now and it's pretty good.
Wow, you bitches forgot the Fate/stay night movie Unlimited Blade Works.
Can I say fail?
Downloading now the UTW version, unless someone mentions a better fansub... a bit out of touch here.
I wouldn't recommend it to anybody who's never played the game (even if they've watched the anime) - and then it's not like any words (encouraging or otherwise) would stop game fans from watching the movie anyway.
UTW's fine.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
I'll be waiting for your apology once you've actually watched it
I archived Doki
Alright, getting the Doki version then.
Any of you have an opinion on the anime Rainbow? That caught my interest.
Yes. Watch it.
"Moe" is the last word that comes to mind regarding this series, and you'd probably like that. One of the darker and grittier series of 2010. I do laugh at how their "realistic depictions of violence" is anatomically impossible at times, but that's cool.
Go with either FroZen or AFFTW. (FroZen preferable maybe. Can't remember if they finished it though).
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
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