What are your 'special' anime? Your universal recommendations

[MFauli]

The current slump in quality anime got me to make this thread. Yes, it's a recommendations thread of sorts, but It's not about one person asking for specific recommendations, but about YOUR favorite masterpiece anime that you'd put in your list of 'these anime made me a weeb'. I think that warrants its own thread.

My hope is to get a picture if what anime other people highly regard and WHY. So don't just post titles, tell us why :]

I'll post something of my own later as I don't want to have my choices dominate this thread.

Have fun 🙋

[DarthEnderX]

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood still holds my spot for "This is the thing I recommend to people if I want them to become anime fans". As it's just really good throughout. It's got pretty much everything I think is great about anime, without much of the stuff that I think would turn off a new viewer.

[Munsu]

Hunter X Hunter, Samurai Champloo, Planetes, Hajime no Ippo, School Rumble, Cowboy Bebop, Berserk (original), Legend of Galactic Heroes, Attack on Titan, Kurau Phantom Memory, Project ARMS, Rurouni Kenshin OVA, Cross Game, Fate/Zero, Monster, Crest of the Stars, Twelve Kingdoms... because I liked them.

[Kraco]

Being weeb means you adore Japan, which isn't the case for most of us, I believe, but disregarding that, the most significant anime for me might have been Elfen Lied. It's no masterpiece, it's barely decent objectively speaking, but back then I hadn't watched much anime at all, and it really made me think: "Holy shit, there are TV series like this around!" Would I recommend it to people? Nah, I don't think so. But it was totally different compared to all the Western stuff I'd mainly watched so far in my life, so I ended up really delving into anime after it.

[KrayZ33]

by genre:

Isekai:
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (most "realistic/grim reality")
Re:Zero (the "checkpoint system" is very interesting)

Sports:
Oofuri (best team vibes, no superskillz)
Ballroom (cool theme, favorite/very strong heroine character)

Drama:
Violet Evergarden (tears)
Yahari somth. somth. featuring 8-man (8-man)

Mecha/Sci-fi:
Iron Blooded Orphans (Mechwarrior/Battletech)
Bebop (Spacewestern)
GitS (Cyberpunk)


Action(?):
Fate/Zero (Antihero)
Fate UBW (Animation)
Danmachi (Minotaur fight/zero to hero)
Youjo Senki (couldn't find a way to describe it with just a few words, but it has to do with Being X and the way Tanya recieves "power".. I can't remember a single Anime that is similar in that regard and it's a*very* interesting choice, it's not as simple as a double-edged sword... it's extremely subtle and just as amazing when you start thinking about what's going on)

Comedy:
One Punch (Animation/Story/Jokes)
School Rumble (Jokes/Romcom)
Konosuba (Animation/Jokes)

These are shows that came to mind right now... would probably recommend a lot more though
None of them made me a "weeb" - but I liked all of them and I think they are way above the average and that's also the reason. They are above the average.
I couldn't point out each show's strength in one sentence, but I tried to give some of them certain "tags" which are enough for a recommendation if done right or point out their respective highlights in my opinion.

The bolded series is my favorite of them all.

some other fun stuff:

Shingeki no Bahamut
Attack on Titan

and many more.

[Munsu]

Being weeb means you adore Japan, which isn't the case for most of us, I believe, but disregarding that, the most significant anime for me might have been Elfen Lied. It's no masterpiece, it's barely decent objectively speaking, but back then I hadn't watched much anime at all, and it really made me think: "Holy shit, there are TV series like this around!" Would I recommend it to people? Nah, I don't think so. But it was totally different compared to all the Western stuff I'd mainly watched so far in my life, so I ended up really delving into anime after it.

Now I'm pissed I forgot about Elfen Lied.

[Sapphire]

Hunter x Hunter is #1 for me.

Others I like are Michiko to Hatchin, Kemonozume, and more recently Re:Zero, Made in Abyss and YAKUSOKU NO NEVERLAND

[Buffalobiian]

FMA: Brotherhood above all else, especially as an introductory title like Darth said.
HxH close second.

Bud's list pretty much looks identical to mine. Throw in Death Note and GitS and you're there. I'm assuming this isn't about films because that's kind of a different ballgame.

[Janice]

Berserk is my #1 forever (read the manga) - You should already know why
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Robots the size of galaxies. and FIGHT THE POWER.
Hajime no Ippo (read the manga here too) - <3 fighting sports. Also, it has a little bit of everything - combat, humor, characters.
Hikaru no Go (watched this again very recently) - Go is an interesting game, and this series manages to make it pretty exciting. Great characters, quite an emotional series.
Great Teacher Onizuka - Hilarious!
Planetes - I'm a space nerd, and this is one of the more realistic space series out there. Basically, garbage men in space, but much much more. Also, amazing OST. And I'm pretty sure at least one of the songs uses a theremin (!) - google it. Too cool.
Moonlight Mile - I love just about all space anime, so this stays in my top 10. The manga is quite long, and it's unfortunate that only S1 and S2 have been adapted. There are also no scanlations of the manga past a certain point . This one holds a special place for me since it was one of the first anime I fansubbed (edited) with GW subs.
Souten Kouro - Another special one for me from having worked on the fansub. Lunar subs had done part of the series (rather poorly), and dropped it, so we took it upon ourselves to complete it for the fans . This was a true beast to work on as there were so many Chinese -> Japanese -> English translations. And dear god the typesetting :O. Basically, Romance of the Three Kingdoms with ridiculous over the top action/violence. Fun to watch.
Death Note - Because of course.
Seirei no Moribito - <3 Balsa my avatar

Just off the top of my head... there are many more.

[Abdula]

The current slump in quality anime got me to make this thread. Yes, it's a recommendations thread of sorts, but It's not about one person asking for specific recommendations, but about YOUR favorite masterpiece anime that you'd put in your list of 'these anime made me a weeb'. I think that warrants its own thread.

My hope is to get a picture if what anime other people highly regard and WHY. So don't just post titles, tell us why :]

I'll post something of my own later as I don't want to have my choices dominate this thread.

Have fun 🙋

Well this brings back memories. I had to do this about 10 years ago, I had a friend who was going to a college that did not have an anime club. He essentially took over what was their AV club and re-branded it. What I told him to do at the time was to focus on genre. Pick an excellent anime that exemplifies each genre and make some dvds that gave a good sample of each genre. He would play them or give them out to people who showed an interest. Based on how receptive they were of each genre then he could come up with a more personalized pitch.

Anyway as to the topic. I'll give you some of my most highly regarded anime and maybe I'll get back to you on the merits of each some other time. First though Kraco already put a disclaimer and I second that most of us are not actually weebs. The point of my little story above was there were certain things I told him to specifically avoid. All things weeb/weaboo, everything hentai or ecchi and while we were thinking of recommendations we right off the top vetoed a number of series.

My first veto was goddamned Gurren Lagann, ugh. Really surprised to see anyone mention it as that and Code Geass are two shows whose popularity I have never understood. Also surprised that Hunter X Hunter is so highly regarded, not that I disliked the series I just didn't think much of the anime. Admittedly, I never treated the anime as its own entity. I shall have to reevaluate that because the first anime I am going to mention is Kekkaishi. If I had to objectively rank it, it would not even be close to my top ten. You are asking about my favorite anime or most highly regarded though, so I have to start with Kekkaishi.

FMA: Brotherhood, as DE mentioned, would definitely be my universal recommendation and is my number 2. Other favs include Deathnote, GTO, Hajime no Ippo, Berserk, Ghost in the shell, Elfen Lied, Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop etc have already been mentioned. Instead of going to anything more recent I'll go old school and mention a few that have not been mentioned. Firstly Macross. Macross was the very first anime for me, I am sure I am not the only one, so that is also very highly regarded. Gundam Wing is something I remember fondly, I was about 10ish when I first saw it. I am not sure how either of those would be regarded now. Bebop got mentioned so I am obligated to mention Trigun. They were airing at the same time so Spike and Vash were a thing.

I can never talk about my favorite anime without mentioning Darker than Black. If Kekkashi is #1, FMA #2, Darker than Black is #3. Also must mention Ergo Proxy, Black Cat which I would not say was very good but certainly more engaging than a lot of the trash out there. Trinity Blood, Blood+ and Hellsing for non sparkly vampires.

Those are just what I could think of at the moment, I do not want to take too much time thinking of more. As for why I like them, that is more nebulous. They all have something compelling, great art, great characters, great setting, great storytelling, lots of action, whatever. Ultimately what it comes down to, what it is always about with me, is willful suspension of disbelief. They all have something that allows me to suspend my disbelief and just enjoy them for what they are. Black Cat for example is so very flawed and the original Hellsing was all over the place but still thoroughly enjoyable. The aforementioned Gurren Lagann on the other hand, just felt off. There was something about the premise, the characters, the story that just did not allow me to watch it without thinking too critically. The end result was concluding that it is terrible.

[MFauli]

Great participation so far, well done, guys. 👍 also my definition of weeb means everyone who watches current season anime and discusses them on a forum 💁

Anyway, I got to brainstorm a bit here. When I think of 'my' masterpieces, it's anime that I believe to be flawless in-so-far as that they don't have completely out of character scenes that somehow ruin the atmosphere. Goblin Slayer's big boob-girl comes to mind. Or when Abyss' heroine ran around naked. Ugh.

Neon Genesis Evangelion:
I didn't start out as an EVA-fan, but the more time passes, the more I appreciate this series. It oozes quality and it tells a daring, complex story while featuring charismatic characters. You can watch it for the fantastic action, for the mysterious plot, or for the character drama. It's no wonder to me that the series is still relevant today and the whole fandom is anticipating Rebuild 4.0.

Hunter X Hunter:
I just finished rewatching starting from the chimera ant arc. This is still the best shounen anime. Other than everyone else, this series puts emphasis on logic and consequences. In Black Clover, Asta loses his arms - for 4 episodes. In HXH, Gon almost dies, requires his best friend risking his life, and then still can no longer use nen. In terms of characterss/setting it's fair to prefer other shounen, but when it comes to story, consequences and meaningful plot development, this anime is king.

Fantastic Children:
It's always tragic and frustrating when I recommend this anime (it's my #1 anime btw). First, people read the title and find it weird. "fantastic...children ... sounds kiddy. Or are you a pedophile?". Then they see the anime ... and again they]re met with an artstyle you'd typically find in anime geared towards a younger audience. But it's not, oh no.
Fantastic children imo is THE best adventure in all of anime, actuall all of media. Great likeable heroes, a super mysterious, exciting story, and very distinctive, emotional music. While the artstyle is simple, it's smoothly animated. And I just love how the story begins footed in reality, but slowly but surely escalates. It also helps that it has one of the most emotional twists towards the end that really challenges your morality.
Since no streaming service offers this anime,I tracked down a DVD box. It's the only anime series I *want* to own.

[Ryllharu]

IRIA: Zeiram the Animation and Project A-ko are without question the reasons I watch anime.
IRIA because while it has a super simple story that's very easy to follow, it's design is unlike anything I'd seen before or since. It's a space bounty hunter series with a...East Asian Retro-Future design to it all that makes it truly, truly unique.

Project A-ko because it is just plain stupid, it's parody really, but it stuck with me ever since.

Slayers is another must. It is the peak of comedy fantasy. It was definitely a must for me after I marathoned Neon Genesis Evangelion which is super depressing. The Slayers anime franchise as a whole never really recovered from Slayers Try, but I still think it hits the perfect balance between comedy, drama, and ramping up the tension.

But that's my list.

Masterpieces though? Universal ones no less? I'll avoid the obvious (Bebop, FMA:B, etc.)

Macross Plus - There is no better pure mecha OVA out there. Sorry Gundam (except for G Gundam Dubbed, my guilty pleasure)

Character driven drama - NANA. Happy and even blissful at times. Infuriating at others. And truly gut-wrenching. Plus it has style. Oh hey...Bonus: Its a music series that has music in it.
- Close second: True Tears

Space adventure? I used to say Outlaw Star, but now I'd probably say Space Battleship Yamato 2199

Space series? Stellvia and Planetes in an even tie.

Just pure fun - Kaleido Star. The animation isn't that great, it can get a bit formulaic at times, but goddamn if it doesn't make me smile every time.
- Close second: Tiger & Bunny

Bittersweet PERFECTION - Mawaru Penguindrum

I cried and I'm not ashamed of it: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, Sora yori mo Tooi Basho, Death Parade, Nagi no Asukara, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, Kanon (2006), Ef - a Tale of Memories.

Peak Martial Arts series where hits actually have real weight - Air Master

Katanagatari - A masterpiece level blending VA performance, story, animation/action, and character.

Kinda Terrible but I have a soft spot for them because they're unique: Chrome Shelled Regios, Kiddy Grade, Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!, and Valvrave

I should like it but for some reason I don't - Trigun. Haibane Renmei.

Technically hentai (sanitized versions exist) but the character design and animation are amazing - Mezzo Forte

The only anime where a plot twist truly shocked me - ARIA. I'm not making this up, and it is one of my favorite "healing type" series. But that said, there is a single episode in there, and I'm not going to say where, that truly shocked me. We're talking heart pounding kinda thing, real world physical symptoms.


Last but not least. The age old question: "My friends/girlfriend think I'm a weirdo for watching anime. What's a good movie or series that I can convert them to fans?"

Depend on the person, but you can try the following. Black Lagoon. Howl's Moving Castle. Princess Mononoke. Castle in the Sky. Perfect Blue or Paprika. Moyashimon S1. Chihayafuru. The Garden of Words. Scrapped Princess.

Weird. There's not a lot of Grimdark shit on here. Go figure.

[MFauli]

Your most heart-felt twist came from an h-anime? 🤔

[KrayZ33]

ARIA is not h-anime

[DarthEnderX]

Well, that's convenient timing.

[Ryllharu]

Your most heart-felt twist came from an h-anime? ��

When someone makes a novelization of this forum, I expect to get a little misty eyed when I finally get to the part where you learn how to read.

Mezzo:


ARIA:

[MFauli]

Sorry, I was thinking 'Gloria' 🙈💁

[Munsu]

Quite a few mentioned have been mentioned that I should've added to my list... but here's an egregious omission:

Now and Then, Here and There

[MFauli]

Quite a few mentioned have been mentioned that I should've added to my list... but here's an egregious omission:

Now and Then, Here and There

Yeah, that's also a fantastic show. Although it's a bit of a downer in terms of atmosphere, so I didn't put it in my IN YOUR FACE list

[Killa-Eyez]

Well, thought long and hard since this thread started and still feel like I'm forgetting most. A lot of them have already been mentioned so I will try to focus more on the ones that haven't.

Trying to name the shows that hold a special place for me. How I watched them in chronological order:

Ultra-Man - Prolly doesn't hold up nowadays, if it ever did. One of the first serious (gore wise) anime shows I watched and got me craving for more. I remember being actually too young to watch it and being scared of the monsters. Netflix has a CGI reboot of it.

Baki the Grappler - Typical over the top shounen shit, but interesting how the show explains martial arts and portrays breaking physical limitations.

Cowboy Bebop - Had to name it again. My first ever introduction to Watanabe's fusion of anime and music. It was love at first sight.

FLCL - Silly fun.

Tenjho Tenge - Really dig the rascal, high school drop out feel to it but more so the fight animation. Story-wise it needed some help though.

Samurai Champloo - Already mentioned here but this one is absolutely my favorite. Good action and comedy and of course what made the show the best for me, an AWESOME soundtrack. Absolutely recommended, especially if you love Hip Hop!

School Rumble - Since GTO was already mentioned, I remember laughing hard at this shows as well.

Earth Maiden Arjuna - Released back in '01 so I was kinda late on it. Not really noteworthy for some, but some insights on world pollution stuck with me. It also has some nice visuals and especially dig its Yoko Kanno made soundtrack.

As for movies...

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994) - This one, on VHS. Like, I have a best friend who had it when I was like 8 and every time I was over I would watch it. It's what really made me appreciate animation. That, and being a huge Kung Fu head and avid gamer helped.

Hokuto no Ken - Yes, I looooove martial arts anime.

Akira - For obvious reasons. Still very alive as inspiration in today's artistry.

Grave of the Fireflies - A real tearjerker this one. Shows how anime can still hit the old nerve on real topics while still being an anime. Ironically one of the few movies by Ghibli not handled by Miyazaki.

Ninja Scroll - Prolly still one of the best implementation of fantasy-ninja anime.

Z.O.E. 2167 Idolo - Next to all the Macross and Gundams a special place holder as it showed some serious social issues, making the movie more "real" than the others for me at the time.

Interstella 5555 - The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, lol. Another awesome portrayal of blending music with anime. No dialog, just visual and auditory bliss!

There's so much more but I've hit a blank. Will post more when I think of them.

Dig the thread btw! Just watched me some Mezzo Forte since it reminded of Kite Liberator and bcuz I'm perv. Thanks Ryll!

Edit:

Mushishi - Has a melancholic feel to it but very enjoyable.

Karas - One of my favourites at the time. Only a 6 episode OVA. Nice blend of CGI and anime on a level that isn't disturbing.

Baccano! - On some Cluedo type shiteru! Really suspenseful with a nice twist. Ichigo from Bleach VA is in it.