Hagane, mate, thanks for being the lighthouse of good manga taste in this thread. Every recommendation I've seen from you so far is a great read.
Ji-L87 wrote:
Quick question, what's currently the best way to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion?
This is probably too late, but all of the currently available official releases have botched up colors and little to no typesetting (seamless on-screen text translation), as well as rather clunky subtitle translation. Your best bet would be a fansub release by the guy named Sephirotic who
color-corrected each episode by hand over the span of multiple months, and introduced a lot of fixes to the actual subtitles. He has recently released the 1080p batch of the entire series + EoE movie, and will soon make a 720p version of the batch as well. Personally I'd be glad to rewatch the series when he's done.
As for the series I have watched over last half a year...
VERY RECOMMENDEDMawaru Penguindrum. The spiritual successor to Utena and an extremely—nay,
EXTREMELY well-directed series. Very Lynchian in its constant dabbling in mysticism and metaphysics, its quirky characters, and the whole "everything is not as simple as it seems at first" atmosphere I loved in Twin Peaks. The cinematography, sound design, dialogue writing, and budget allocation are nothing short of stellar—the attention to detail on the level of this series is seen maybe
once a year. And to top it off, it's actually clever and relatively subtle in delivery of its ideas! Holy shit, am I still describing an
anime series about schoolchildren and penguins?

Well, on a more serious note... honestly, Penguindrum is a great show the likes of which are very rare and underappreciated because they are not digested easily nor are meant to be. It's a lot like arthouse cinema in the sense that it requires being familiar with the broad cultural and social context, so not everyone will understand everything, and most viewers likely won't understand anything at all that isn't in their face, but those who will understand the subtle things will absolutely love it. In this particular case you're pretty much required to learn about the
Lost Decade, the famous
1995 sarin attacks on Tokyo subway, and the anime adaptation of Kenji Miyazawa's
Night on the Galactic Railroad, which is very much a recommended watch on its own. This is the bare minimum required to make sense of what's going on in Penguindrum—both literally and between the lines. And there's a lot going on between the lines. It's not without its flaws but neither is Twin Peaks or any other series that attempts something both ambitious and unconventional at the same time. The show's dialogue is very demanding with virtually no throwaway lines, so get the best translation you can (search for Flep or Zurako release).
Katanagatari. A well-done adaptation of light novels by Nisio Isin of Monogatari fame. Quirky (but lovable) art style, excellent soundtrack, cleverly written story, deep characterization, and pleasant dialogues. It's a very deceptive series in that it initially fools you into thinking this is a cute action comedy but quickly and
naturally progresses into being exactly the opposite. Not grimdark on the level of Shigurui, obviously, but there will be many instances starting as early as episode 3 that will likely leave you very unsettled, sad, or at all emotionally devastated. The ending may seem a little controversial at first, if not a 180° switch, but it remains entirely consistent and stands up to a rewatch; in fact, the series lends itself to a complete rewatch almost instantly, despite not being as cryptic as Mawaru Penguindrum. It's just that well-written. And the action parts, when they actually happen, are
extremely well-animated for the most part.
Mushishi Zoku Shou, aka the 2nd season of Mushishi. If you've watched the first season, watch this. If you haven't watched either, watch both asap. Some of the episodes (eg. the one about the tunnel mushi) are
fucking mindblowing.
SLIGHTLY LESS RECOMMENDEDAnoHana. Sappy, does a lot of forced tearjerking, and generally tries
so hard at making you feel sad it actually succeeds, haha. Definitely not a show of the same level as the previous three writing- or direction-wise, but is nice and still a lot better than other shows that attempt the same but fail to.
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu. Slow-paced character-driven period drama with zero fanservice. Excellent characterization, voice acting and animation. The last episode feels rushed, and the pacing can feel very slow in the middle, but that's the extent of its problems. Oh, and I suppose you probably won't enjoy it if you don't like theater (Japanese theater in particular).
Parasyte. A campy version of The Thing with non-shitty plot, fun action, and some interesting takes on human morals. Generally not insulting to intelligence, which is something action anime rarely achieves.
Welcome to the NHK! Well... this is grim. I like how it presents itself as a comedy but ends up being so
delightfully cynical it actually makes you uneasy a lot more than it makes you laugh. Considering I have experienced myself or have seen firsthand all of the major character prototypes and situations featured in this show, I can vouch for its overall credibility and faithfulness in depiction of the hikikomori problem.
Bakemonogatari. I've only watched the first series so far, and I indend to continue. I'm no stranger to Studio Shaft shows (I loved Madoka and enjoyed Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei), but this is probably the most eyebrow-raising of them all. Definitely not a show for everyone. That said, I loved it. The dialogue is extremely delightful (the way Senjougahara bullies Araragi is just hilarious) and the characters themselves are nice. Playing with sexual undertones, which is something that happens
a lot here, can get
a little overboard at times (yes, that's a pussy-covering band-aid on an underage girl), but it's
mostly served in a very tasteful manner and is way more enjoyable than the copypaste ecchi fanservice in shows that can well do without it.
The Tatami Galaxy. Not my favorite Masaaki Yuasa work (I still prefer Kaiba,
Ping Pong, and the masterpiece that is Mind Game), but I'd say it's a good introduction to his style, and it has some nice rapid-fire dialogue with many enjoyable sequences. And that
incredibly stylish ending.
Usagi Drop. There's nothing really going on in this series story-wise, but it portrays the joys and hardships of raising a child a relationship between the two main characters in a very realistic and heartwarming way.
Psycho-Pass. This is basically Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex, just slightly less about politics and slightly more about law enforcement action, made by some of the same staff. Strong female lead, cyberpunk-themed mildly anti-utopian future, unapologetic action sequences, high production values, all that jazz. Season 2 is certainly weaker, to the point where I wouldn't recommend it unless you really liked the first season. Full length-movie you can safely skip unless you have a high resistance to spoken Engrish (although there exists a fan edit that substitutes the cringy Engrish lines with the same lines from the English dub).
DEBATABLEShinsekai Yori. I really wanted to enjoy this series more than I have. It's not bad, it has a solid premise, decent execution, and goes lengths to avoid the cliches and pitfalls of other anime series that attempted to tell a story of this kind. But... it's just not very enjoyable. The pacing is all over the place (it could definitely benefit from having 2-3 episodes less), character motivation seems puzzling at times, and the twist at the end is too Shyamalanian for my taste. I get that most of the praise it received was largely banked on this twist, but you've got to give other parts of the story due attention, too. In the time it took it could have developed the supporting characters a lot better, for one.
Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge. A surprisingly fresh
(...ahem) protagonist that doesn't act like one; most of the other characters are pretty lovable as well and bounce well off of each other. Certainly not something I would remember years down the line though. Pacing is sloooooooooow (but fits the theme).
Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu. A well-paced shounen that takes an age-old premise and plays around with harem theme but doesn't devolve into shitty ecchi (Zero no Tsukaima, looking at you here) and generally tries its best to stay engaging and non-obnoxious. Also perhaps the first such show of its kind that doesn't make the main character absurdly powerful—in fact, the only notable trait he has is that he returns to the
latest "save point" when killed, a-la Groundhog Day / Edge of Tomorrow...
...but with the ability to occasionally progress to the next "save point".
Space Patrol Luluco. Inferno Cop meets FLCL meets Gurren Lagann meets Kill la Kill meets Little Witch Academia meets Sex and Violence with Machspeed... well, you probably get the idea. It's a wild hodgepodge of top-grade silliness taking place all over studio Trigger's directors' portfolio as well as some leftover Gainax legacy. Occasionally great (roughly once per 3 episodes), otherwise okay; short enough to not be boring.
Excellent stylish ending (this will probably be deleted from YT soon).
Kiznaiver. A show that takes 75% of its length before you can make any sense of it, which is a pretty audacious move for something that sets the bar only slightly above mediocre in the first couple episodes. Not sure yet how it will end; the only thing I can say it does become interesting and feels considerably less generic starting around episode 9 or so. Out of 12 episodes in total.
Joker Game. It looks and feels reasonably clever, and is clearly aimed at an adult audience, but it's just not very engaging overall. I blame the episodic format where every episode after the first two is a separate self-contained story.
Bungou Stray Dogs. It's... decent-ish? An interesting take on superpowers, referencing most of the pantheon of famous Japanese fiction writers in some pretty roundabout ways. Occasionally entertaining and doesn't contain any moe shit.
Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin. Very original premise. Starts off on a high note, but eventually succumbs to multiple cliches. Up to and including being sad and violent for the sake of being sad and violent.
Durarara x2 Shou/Ten/Ketsu. A once-excellent series that has overstayed its welcome. Never gets to the level of the first half of season 1 but stays consistently non-shitty if you can keep all the characters in memory. Unfortunately, it doesn't get too far past the "non-shitty" starting with Ten, and doesn't recover much in Ketsu. It's not mediocre, but it attempts to do a lot of different things and introduces more colorful characters to the point where you neither understand what's going on nor care about it, and just want to see how it ends. And I'm not very satisfied with how it ends.
WHATEVERMy Hero Academia,
Dagashi Kashi,
Kuma Miko,
Dimension W. Watch these if you're a bored omnivore unafraid of blatantly mediocre writing and generic fanservice. Don't watch these if you value your time.
NOT RECOMMENDEDKotetsujou no Kabaneri. Disappointment of the season, anyone? Started watching it because the first episode promised an entertaining mix of Shingeki no Kyojin and Snowpiercer (the recent-ish action movie with Chris Evans). It went pretty great for the first 2.5 episodes and then demonstrated complete and utter creative bankruptcy (the amount of shameless copying and riding on popular cliche is astounding)... as well as
actual bankruptcy—with lots of padding, static scenes, actual panned static frames instead of animated action, and other kinds of garbage that suggest the entire show's budget was spent on the first three episodes. In the end it's neither as well-written and internally consistent as SnK nor as fun and unrelenting as Snowpiercer. I'm going to finish this, but if you ever see somebody ragging on this show, be sure that it deserves every last word of criticism. This is bad, and the writers should be ashamed about creating something so bad.
Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?. Starts off self-aware and at least somewhat promising, devolves into 100% generic unfun predictable fanservice-driven garbage.
Tokyo Ghoul. Inconsistent, annoying, predictable, and... well, what exactly is good about it? I mean you had cat ears in Elfen Lied, what do you have here except obnoxious emo kids and equally obnoxious psychopaths duking it out in vain attempts to elicit emotional response out of the viewer? Meh.
Mayoiga. Dropped this after episode 5, never looked back.
Bubuki Buranki. Not a single redeeming thing. I lasted up to episode 4.
Boku dake ga Inai Machi. Disappointment of the previous season. The first 4 or so episodes were pretty much flawless. Then it started to drag, and finally culminated in a contrived ending that didn't explain anything it should have. I read the manga to see if it was due to bad adaptation, but in fact the manga was much,
much worse (seriously, it's laughably bad). It's like the author got a good idea from somebody but was too bad to execute it in any kind of a satisfactory manner.
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar. Beautifully drawn (such a waste!) but
generic as fuck and unbearably slow. An animated equivalent of a double dosage of Valium.