Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Aleanil]

If you're looking for something more (I often do) but don't want it to be unpalatable (Infinite Ryvius, Evangelion [blegh], etc.) check out Kino no Tabi.. or Kino's Travels I think it's called. Absolutely excellent little 13 ep anime that came out a couple of years ago.

It follows a girl and her talking motorbike as she travels through places; each place she visits (one per ep) is interesting, then she moves on. Definitely one of the best things I've seen in the past three or four years.

[Pirate1019]

I'm curious how you guys feel about it. Do you watch anime as just entertainment, or do you feel there is more to it than entertainment and are looking for something more ?

While not an expert, or even adequately informed/up to date on anime/manga, what I do read or watch, I appreciate if there is something more to it then being pretty or just a quick bit of cheap entertainment. Most of what I've tried to get through seemed somewhat empty. I'm probably looking in all the wrong places though, because, like I said before, I am most definitely not an expert on anime or manga.

[JoshF]

Got two volumes of Cyber Blue by BOB/Tetsuo Hara today, and I've been trying to find it for a long time. Hara artwork is the sack.

[Icarus]

I'm curious how you guys feel about it. Do you watch anime as just entertainment, or do you feel there is more to it than entertainment and are looking for something more ?

I take it on a case-by-case basis.

- Sometimes I like to watch something that has a powerful story and an excellent way of telling that story (stuff like Paranoia Agent and Air for example).
- Occasionally I like to watch something to relax, or for a little laugh (slice-of-life stuff like Lucky Star, Aria and Azumanga Daioh are ones I tend to return to for that).
- I like a bit of mindless entertainment, or seeing completely ridiculous situations (Muteki Kanban Musume!).
- I enjoy a bit of fantasy story telling, like magic, sci-fi, mechs etc (Nanoha, Negima, Macross, Appleseed....)
- I also appreciate good art in both anime and manga, but it doesn't always take precedence.

tl:dr
Depends on my mood. I can watch it for entertainment, and I can watch it to appreciate good narrative and art. I'm fairly open-minded about what I pick up.

On Topic:
Why has no one picked this up for scanlating yet?

[Pirate1019]

I watched the 13 episode TV version of Air. I really liked it. It might be the only anime I've watched completely. (Thanks Youtube)

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Nice conclusion but I don't have bad taste. It's just that I don't expect a shounen anime to have the deepest story ever, just something adequate so that they can string battles together. The story is adequate, though some characters are annoying, but the battles are good. I've seen a lot of anime with worse battles than Naruto, including some high profile ones.

eheh sorry if you felt offensed, I'm not being offensive on purpose but well, it's just what I think about Naruto. Mmmh... I kind of have the opposite view, I think the story is pretty stupid, most characters are terribly shallow (especially Sasuke / Gaara, and most of the secondary characters, but I kind of liked Rock Lee, Naruto, Guy Sensei, Kakashi or Jiraiya~ they're kind of fun), but I really thought the worst thing were the battles. Which anime do you think has worse battles ?

Actually what should we expect from battles ? I watch anime for art, meaning an anime is good for me when it makes me feel something special that I've never felt before. So battles like in FLCL are really really great to me because they're so psychedelic and I feel totally rock and roll in a FLCL way when I watch them. But when I watch Naruto, I only feel very common suspense and nothing more. Like "mmmh I wanna know what comes next, who's gonna win..." etc, but it really doesn't try to create any kind of emotion besides the usual ones.

So well maybe Naruto has intense suspense lol but it still feels very common and usual to me so that's why I think it's bad. And I have no anime that comes to my mind where the battles are any worse than that.

Again I'm not trying to be offensive, just saying what I think.

I'm curious how you guys feel about it. Do you watch anime as just entertainment, or do you feel there is more to it than entertainment and are looking for something more ?

When I was watching FLCL, the emotions I had were "WTF is this?" and an erection. The story barely made any sense and was just an excuse to have chicks and giant robots in an anime. It was cool and the fights were good because they were weird, but overall, they weren't that amazing that they made Naruto's look like garbage. They both have quality battles, but they're good because of different reasons. FLCL > weird shit. Naruto > tricks.

Some high quality anime that had so so fights include Blood+ and Eureka 7. They're good because of their stories, so I don't mind.

I watch anime for entertainment. I don't actively look for anything more. Whatever that whatever is people look for that make watching for entertainment take a backseat.

[PROMETHEUS]

I'm curious how you guys feel about it. Do you watch anime as just entertainment, or do you feel there is more to it than entertainment and are looking for something more ?

I take it on a case-by-case basis.

- Sometimes I like to watch something that has a powerful story and an excellent way of telling that story (stuff like Paranoia Agent and Air for example).
- Occasionally I like to watch something to relax, or for a little laugh (slice-of-life stuff like Lucky Star, Aria and Azumanga Daioh are ones I tend to return to for that).
- I like a bit of mindless entertainment, or seeing completely ridiculous situations (Muteki Kanban Musume!).
- I enjoy a bit of fantasy story telling, like magic, sci-fi, mechs etc (Nanoha, Negima, Macross, Appleseed....)
- I also appreciate good art in both anime and manga, but it doesn't always take precedence.

tl:dr
Depends on my mood. I can watch it for entertainment, and I can watch it to appreciate good narrative and art. I'm fairly open-minded about what I pick up.

On Topic:
Why has no one picked this up for scanlating yet?

Yeah true there are different kinds of anime and we shouldn't have the same expectations for them. However for me it narrows down to 2 things I guess : art and humor. I would group together "fantasy story telling" / "powerful story with excellent way of telling that story" as part of the art in an anime, as for me they are just part of what makes the ambiance and feeling we get from it (along with music, characters and graphics...).

And I also like comical anime but in a different way. Humor can be part of the art in an anime because it contributes to creating this special ambiance / feeling, or it can be there really only to make you laugh and that's good too. I love FUMOFFU for that for exemple ~!

When I was watching FLCL, the emotions I had were "WTF is this?" and an erection. The story barely made any sense and was just an excuse to have chicks and giant robots in an anime. It was cool and the fights were good because they were weird, but overall, they weren't that amazing that they made Naruto's look like garbage. They both have quality battles, but they're good because of different reasons. FLCL > weird shit. Naruto > tricks.

Well, FLCL really is weird and I think how you feel when watching it depends a lot on your personality (like everything but even more so). However I don't know what you mean by "Naruto > tricks". Tricks ? Like what ? "Gosh, he just used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu so smartly right there cause the enemy thought he could attack him with his super attack but now he doesn't know where his target is !!"... If that's what you're talking about, to me the tactics in Naruto don't make any sense and the fights always looked and sounded really stupid to me because of that and the stupid prolonged suspense / terrible animation / naive characters / bad music etc... What do you think is good about Naruto's battles ?

[Icarus]

I would group together "fantasy story telling" / "powerful story with excellent way of telling that story" as part of the art in an anime, as for me they are just part of what makes the ambiance and feeling we get from it (along with music, characters and graphics...).

That's true. However you can get an anime with hideous art but a fantastic storyline, just like you can get an anime with amazing art and shitty storytelling. Hence why I seperated them in my post. ^_-

[PROMETHEUS]

I would group together "fantasy story telling" / "powerful story with excellent way of telling that story" as part of the art in an anime, as for me they are just part of what makes the ambiance and feeling we get from it (along with music, characters and graphics...).

That's true. However you can get an anime with hideous art but a fantastic storyline, just like you can get an anime with amazing art and shitty storytelling. Hence why I seperated them in my post. ^_-

Yeah I agree ; though most of the time it makes me dislike the anime. Well not always maybe, I think that's what I thought of Esclaflowne : I kind of liked the story but disliked the art. Or Scrapped Princess, or Stellvia of the Universe... And in the end I thought they were pretty good. So yeah, I guess stories can be good by themselves.

[Motorherp]

My tastes are a bit old school and probably dont sync with everyones idea of manga and anime so maybe not to everyone's liking but here are my suggestions.

For Manga I very strongly recommend anything by my all time favourite, Adam Warren. The man has a wicked sense of humour and a twisted mind which is right up my street. I've also never seen anyone pull off convinsing, gripping, and genuinly humerous character interactions like he does, his comics really are a joy to read. They're also a feast for the eyes since his artwork is also amazing, particularly his later stuff when he's teamed up with some excellent colourists and really refined his style. Some people were put of by his pouty lip style he developed though so if you dont like that then look for his earlier works. So if you're interested then in particular I'd pick up his Dirty Pair comics. I own them all and can assure you that they're all master pieces, but if you wanted to test the waters and try one or two first I'd go for 'Sim Hell (remastered)' or 'Fatal But Not Serious'. Also worth checking out by Adam Warren is 'Bubblegum Crisis : Grand Mall' if you can find it, and also 'Gen 13'.

More traditional mangas I've enjoyed and recommend are the Appleseed books and Ghost in the shell and if you're after something light hearted I recommend 'Hyper Police' which is good for a giggle and also 'Get Backers' (well at least up to the first 4 or so books, after that it gets too serious and boring). Also if you ever feel the need to stray away from manga style and go for something different I strongly recommend 'Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horrors' by Jhonen Vasquez and also 'Bear Immortal' by Jamie Smart, both of which are really twisted and had me in tears of laughter.

Rightio, onto the Anime. I'll just blurt this out in no particular order and make it quick:

Doomed Megalopolis
3x3 Eyes
Dominion Tank Police
Cyber City OEDO 808
Guy
Mad Bull 34
Macross Plus

and if you need a good laugh check out 'Ruojin-Z' and 'Ultimate Teacher'.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

When I was watching FLCL, the emotions I had were "WTF is this?" and an erection. The story barely made any sense and was just an excuse to have chicks and giant robots in an anime. It was cool and the fights were good because they were weird, but overall, they weren't that amazing that they made Naruto's look like garbage. They both have quality battles, but they're good because of different reasons. FLCL > weird shit. Naruto > tricks.

Well, FLCL really is weird and I think how you feel when watching it depends a lot on your personality (like everything but even more so). However I don't know what you mean by "Naruto > tricks". Tricks ? Like what ? "Gosh, he just used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu so smartly right there cause the enemy thought he could attack him with his super attack but now he doesn't know where his target is !!"... If that's what you're talking about, to me the tactics in Naruto don't make any sense and the fights always looked and sounded really stupid to me because of that and the stupid prolonged suspense / terrible animation / naive characters / bad music etc... What do you think is good about Naruto's battles ?

Tricks like in that episode where Sasuke throws that huge shuriken and two shurikens appear and one of the shurikens is actually Naruto who manages to trick a Ninja much more experienced than them. Or when Sasuke throws his katana in a minefield to see where there were no mines so that he could jump on top of it and reach the enemy up in the air. I watched every episode of FLCL several times, but it seems you're talking about Naruto having barely watched the show.

I think your criteria for good battles is weird because if there isn't any robots shitting people or guitar wielding maniacs, then it sucks. What sucks more is that you pretend that what you watch is infinitely better. FLCL has a lot of weird shit happening but in the end it's just an excuse to have robots and chicks in an anime. Yeah, there's nothing more to it. That whatever stuff you're looking for in your anime isn't there. Stop pretending.

[BrianC]

If you're looking for something more (I often do) but don't want it to be unpalatable (Infinite Ryvius, Evangelion [blegh], etc.) check out Kino no Tabi.. or Kino's Travels I think it's called. Absolutely excellent little 13 ep anime that came out a couple of years ago.

I agree. Kino's Journey (US title) is an excellent anime.

Another anime I liked quite a bit was Fighting Spirit (Hajime no Ippo). A boxing anime with likable characters, great fights, and excellent humor.

[PROMETHEUS]

Tricks like in that episode where Sasuke throws that huge shuriken and two shurikens appear and one of the shurikens is actually Naruto who manages to trick a Ninja much more experienced than them. Or when Sasuke throws his katana in a minefield to see where there were no mines so that he could jump on top of it and reach the enemy up in the air. I watched every episode of FLCL several times, but it seems you're talking about Naruto having barely watched the show.

I think your criteria for good battles is weird because if there isn't any robots shitting people or guitar wielding maniacs, then it sucks. What sucks more is that you pretend that what you watch is infinitely better. FLCL has a lot of weird shit happening but in the end it's just an excuse to have robots and chicks in an anime. Yeah, there's nothing more to it. That whatever stuff you're looking for in your anime isn't there. Stop pretending.

I don't know why you're pissed now but anyway, obviously I was saying that I think FLCL is better than Naruto since I do think Naruto is as worse as anime can get. I did watch quite a bunch of episodes of Naruto (around 100 of them :/), I do feel it was a waste of time because there's nothing special about it and I do think that when you've seen the first 10 episodes you know all what Naruto is about (no need to watch all 500000 them) (besides FLCL has only 6 episodes).

The strategy tricks you mention are indeed what I was talking about, trying to appear smart when it really makes no sense at all (why seek logic in battles when the fighters are magic ninjas that can pull any kind of trick and jump everywhere, with stupid chakra explainations that make no sense everytime they do something new ?).

I do think there's more to FLCL than a pretext for showing chicks and robots but whatever, I don't want to discuss it cause it's too long and I got no time. But it seems you didn't understand I was only using FLCL as one example T.T I like battles in Samurai Champloo, or Full Metal Panic - The Second Raid too... just because they feel special. They make me feel something special. You can make a stupid fight with robots and chicks, but you can also make a fight with same stuff in it that will feel very different and good. If you don't feel like I do when you watch FLCL, it's fine, I'm not saying you have bad taste or whatever, I'm not saying it's ultimate. What I'm saying is : Naruto is infuckincredibly overrated and it has close to 0 interesting elements in it.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Fine. To each one their own. I've no time for geeky discussions either.

[Icarus]

Naruto is so full of holes it makes a sieve look watertight.
Also, someone on /a/ posted this in reference to Naruto. Makes for a laugh.

[PROMETHEUS]

Naruto is so full of holes it makes a sieve look watertight.
Also, someone on /a/ posted this in reference to Naruto. Makes for a laugh.

lol that was pretty funny

I would add :
- If ninjas can use replacement jutsu in order to avoid an attack, why don't they use it every single time they're targeted ?

[JoshF]

Cyber City OEDO 808

Good choice. File 2 is the best in my ump-onion. I remember hearing Kawajiri wanted to make a sequel to this sometime.

[Motorherp]

Cyber City OEDO 808

Good choice. File 2 is the best in my ump-onion. I remember hearing Kawajiri wanted to make a sequel to this sometime.

That would be awesome if he did. I remember being pretty dissapointed when I discovered there was only 3 parts to the story. I felt they could have run with this one a lot further. The same goes for 'Guy' too, that one really should have been a running series.

[JoshF]

Right now he's working on a Jubei Ninpucho sequel which is just as good.

[Shocky]

I'm curious how you guys feel about it. Do you watch anime as just entertainment, or do you feel there is more to it than entertainment and are looking for something more ?

There is more. For pure entertainment, I watch primarily anime that I'm deeply curious about, mainly some 80'es stuff that I haven't seen yet (still got almost 100 episodes of Legend of the Galactic Heroes waiting...). New anime just doesn't "do" it for me, and by new I mean post- Neon Genesis Evangelion, which pretty much was the last mind blowing series.

Another aspect is that I watch anime because of social reasons. I wouldn't be able to comprehend many of my friends (or make new ones, as I did today) anymore without checking out some newer anime/manga too. I just came back from an anime convention, and I have to say that the series I need to watch more (than just the first episodes that I've seen) for general education are: Naruto & The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. In the convention there was a huge army of Naruto cosplayers (or "Narutards"), and some deeper discussions about Haruhi. There were also chaotic Nintendo DS Picto-chat sessions going on, and if I didn't watch all kinds of anime I simply couldn't connect to anyone's "frequency".

Last weekend I was in Paris, in Japan Expo 2007 which is the biggest anime convention in Europe. Naruto seems to be THE anime all over, no doubt about it. But in France the scene has been existing for a looong time, so good stuff like Space Adventure Cobra, Captain Harlock ("Albator" in France) City Hunter (guess what its called in France? "Nicky Larson"!?) are still popular. If it had been just Naruto and such, I'd have felt like a fish on dry land because I can't even speak any french.

I highly recommend Japan Expo, especially because there was also other japanese pop culture on offer: Wrestling, robots, martial arts, j-pop/rock groups and artists performing, video gaming including old classics (Galaxy Force II on a FM Towns Marty o_O), and of course a lot of SHMUPs (GigaWing, DDP, DOJ, Ikaruga, Batsugun...) I even got to test out Muchi Muchi Pork there, thanks to some cool french dudes from shmup.com. Merci, Neo-Arcadia & shmup.com!

Cyber City OEDO 808

Good choice. File 2 is the best in my ump-onion. I remember hearing Kawajiri wanted to make a sequel to this sometime.

Mmm.. one of my favorites too, but then again so is every other thing Kawajiri has done, even the opening sequence of Phantom Quest Corporation. I think OEDO 808 File 1 is the best, partly because I'm interested in smart buildings. Too bad it kind of rips off the first Patlabor movie. Anyone have suggestions for more of this kind? I already know (and enjoy immensely) the A.D. Police OVAs, Midnight Eye Goku and Angel Cop, all which deal with the same type of future issues and share a similar dark, dramatic sci-fi style.

[Motorherp]

If you're into that type of anime (me too) you could try 'Parasite Dolls'. Also the 'Geno Cyber' trailers look amazing but I never got around to picking them up so couldn't tell you for sure. If you like the AD Police setting you could also try Bubblegum Crisis/Crash. No where near as dark and a bit cheesy but they're alright.

[Shocky]

If you're into that type of anime (me too) you could try 'Parasite Dolls'. Also the 'Geno Cyber' trailers look amazing but I never got around to picking them up so couldn't tell you for sure. If you like the AD Police setting you could also try Bubblegum Crisis/Crash. No where near as dark and a bit cheesy but they're alright.

Thanks! This Parasite Dolls is all news to me, looks promising. Geno Cyber IS amazing, one of my all-time faves. I thought about it but didn't mention it because it ventures so far from the "probable future" scenarios (it mixes sci-fi with tibetan buddhism, has a weird-ass ending...) Other than that it's noteworthy because it's clearly one of the most insanely, blatantly violent anime of all times (which is all plus in my book). I don't know who to blame for that, Tony "A.D. Police" Takezaki who did the manga (which I haven't read), director Koichi Ohata who also did the ultra-bloody M.D. Geist or writer Shou Aikawa, who's responsible for many sick and depraved anime, or a fortunate combination of all these talents.

Too bad Geno Cyber and the likes have been and will be shunned by most of the anime/manga "gurus"

Bubblegum Crisis is indeed great vintage stuff, but it has too much comedy elements for my liking to reach the highest possible level. I mean, I like comedy too, but most of all I like dead-serious action/drama anime.

[Icarus]

I've seen Genocyber before. Quite enjoyed it. I also like some of the more established older animes such as Appleseed, Dominion Tank Police (which is what got me into anime in the first place), Vampire Hunter D, Guyver, Doomed Megalopolis, AD Police, Bubblegum Crisis, Jubei Ninja Chronicles...

There's something for everyone in anime and manga. Just because it's ancient doesn't mean it won't be good to watch/read.

[CIT]

Here's what I've been reading lately:



HOMUNCULUS - Hideo Yamamoto

A drifter with a mysterious past gets talked into undergoing a trepanation procedure, after which we witness his changes in perception.
Full of lynchian weirdness, J-Horror elements but also questions of medical ethics and epistemology, this looks to be really promising!



GOTHIC SPORTS - Anike Hage

This is the first OGL Manga (Original German Language Manga) I've read. Basically it's about a group of loligoths that form a highschool soccer team. The art style is very vibrant and refreshing, the story is pretty run-of-the-mill sports manga though. She could've gone a lot wilder with the theme. Apparently this just got released in the US as well, which is a bit surprising.

[Aleanil]

Slightly OT, but if anyone has Eureka 7 and is hesitating about watching it for whatever reason (the length, tired of mecha, or whatever) - DON'T HESITATE. I started it yesterday, already up to ep 26 now. The last anime that managed to catch my attention like this was School Rumble, many months ago. Though this is totally different subject matter than School Rumble... anyway. *coughs*

Most of what carries the series is the characters and plot; they're VERY in-depth characters. Nobody is one-sided - always good, or always bad. Every character has their strengths and foibles. It's quite a refreshing change from the typical anime 'good-guy/bad-guy' mentality.

I'd been putting it off (mostly because of the length; I can barely keep my attention in one place for 4 or 5 eps at a time). Today I've watched 15 episodes straight, with only a break for food. It is that engaging.

I now return you to your current cyberpunk/post-apocalyptic anime and manga discussions.... (btw, BGC2032 and AD Police OVA take the cake for the best in that genre [though BGC could have used a slightly darker storyline with less comedy]. BGC2040 and AD Police TV were a travesty compared to the originals. Also, I say this w/o having seen Cyber City Oedo or Genocyber.) Oh, and the Gunnm / Battle Angel Alita manga isn't too bad either.

[PROMETHEUS]

Here's what I've been reading lately:



HOMUNCULUS - Hideo Yamamoto

A drifter with a mysterious past gets talked into undergoing a trepanation procedure, after which we witness his changes in perception.
Full of lynchian weirdness, J-Horror elements but also questions of medical ethics and epistemology, this looks to be really promising!

Ah! I got this one with the white cover but I don't know what it's talking about because it's in Japanese. Somebody gave it to me as a present because I'm learning japanese but still can't really read mangas :'(

[Icarus]

Potemayo. So weird, so very funny.
Either that, or I have a messed up sense of humor. Meh. ¯\(°_o)/¯

[Twiddle]

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (So Long, Mr. Despair) is a definite must watch and the scattered flavor text is awesome



It's like Great Teacher Onizuka meets NHK so if you liked either or both you should definitely watch it

it's about a suicidal chronically depressed teacher and his students that are just as wrong in the head


Dennou Coil proves that a show can be interesting without featuring actual violence and has actual consistency with the technology featured in the show


The Skull Man is where you take a bog standard revenge manga and turn it into something that doesn't put you to sleep

[Axon]

Those who like a romance series with a decent amount of depression added in might want to check out Saikano, though I'm sure most probably have since I think it is pretty famous in the romance circles. While nothing made me cry, it definitely gets you feeling for the characters. There are some laughable situatons and plotholes but that is to be expected when the female lead is also a weapon of mass destruction.

[Icarus]

Holy fucking shit!
That was worth the eight-and-a-half-hour wait for the peercast raw to appear.
I'm still shaking...