Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Leandro]

Just finished the Hellsing manga series. Pretty unimpressive overall, but since a friend lend me the volumes, I read them all... I think I already forgot all the story, only remember Seras big tits

[Xyga]

Started reading Kingdom, bloody Warring States period China seinen manga (

Brutal

I wonder if the anime's any good ? The production value seems quite low...

[Ji-L87]

TV SERIES

You're Under Arrest!

As a lover of You're Under Arrest, I'd recommend the 4 OVA episodes long before the TV-series however
I've seen these first four being counted as the first in the TV series (with TV starting from 5) but they're worlds apart in production quality.

[FinalBaton]

As a lover of You're Under Arrest, I'd recommend the 4 OVA episodes long before the TV-series however
I've seen these first four being counted as the first in the TV series (with TV starting from 5) but they're worlds apart in production quality.

Aren't they in fact the first four episodes? That's what I always thought

If someone was to start the series from the start then he/she would get to see them first

when I started the tv series, the first four episodes I got to watch were "And So They Met", "Tokyo Typhoon Rally", "Love's Highway Stars" and "On the road, AGAIN", which are indeed the OVAs.

[Ji-L87]

Looking over at the ANN encyclopedia, the OVAs came out 1994-1995 and the TV series starting in 1996.

The episode listing for the first episode looks like this though:

1996-10-05

File 1: And So They Met
FILE.1 soshitefutariha deatta
FILE.1 そしてふたりは出会った

Originally released as an OAV.

So I guess they just aired the OVA on TV as part of the TV series in 1996?

That's one way of doing things I suppose. I just like to keep them separate because they are so very different in quality, and the TV series edges a bit closer to the manga, with Aoi being introduced the "first" episode and that baseball nut later on.

The lack of Aoi in the OVA is it's only serious flaw IMO

The TV series does have some nice developments during it's run though and I imagine watching the movie being a bit confusing if you skip it.

/rant

[FinalBaton]

So I guess they just aired the OVA on TV as part of the TV series in 1996?

It seems like this is indeed the case

[lilmanjs]

Thanks for the suggestions on stuff. Seeing all that anime laserdisc stuff in the laserdisc thread got me interested in checking out more anime from that time period.

[FinalBaton]

No problem

[lilmanjs]

No problem

Would it be safe to say Fist of The North Star should be watched last? Or is that not the longest series suggested?

[FinalBaton]

No problem

Would it be safe to say Fist of The North Star should be watched last? Or is that not the longest series suggested?

No watch it asap! That series is so rad! I bolded it for a reason

It is long but start it and watch other things in between. Watch a bunch of episodes then watch something else, then watch another batch of FOTNS episode, then something else etc etc

[soprano1]

New season of Hibike! Euphonium started yesterday, at last. Loved the first season. Tiger Mask W seems great, but i'm afraid the animation quality might drop a lot.

[Skykid]

Hokuto No Ken

Not a recommended manga tbh. I have no idea what compelled me to finish its 220 odd chapters - probably some kind of manly prestige - but it's certainly not worth doing. I've come to the realisation that HNK's appeal is in its world as a snapshot, which is often used as a point of sale in various spin offs. And that's fine. As a snapshot its absurd manliness and Mad Max inspired ultra violent post-apocalyptic world is a lot of fun.

What isn't a lot of fun is the manga, which was clearly never intended to be read in quick succession, and amounts to very little except repetition of the same themes. There's almost zero plot and the narrative creativity is flat as a pancake.

It's 220 chapters of the following:

- Henchmen kill villagers for fun
- Henchmen threaten to kill children, but are always killed by Ken just before they do
- Henchmen's leader is a big bad guy who gets off on sadism, just before being killed by Ken
- All big bad guys want to rule the world and be the best martial artist - before being killed by Ken
- Anyone who sides with Ken and fights alongside him is almost guaranteed to die shortly thereafter
- Lots of manly tears. There are a lot of crying men in this. A lot.
- Shades of subtle homoeroticism

It's amazingly devoid of anything except fighting, which is perhaps all one may want from their manga - but for me I've read a lot of seinen with combat themes that are far more interesting and involving. By the time the series concludes basically nothing has happened at all that didn't happen in the first 40 - 60 chapters.

Additionally the more you read the more you realise that HNK is really very little like Mad Max at all, and would have done better to draw even more influence. Bar the character designs, which use a glam rock theme and have that Mad Max anarchism, the manga is a lot more focussed on its fantasy martial arts and Ken's journey to kill anyone trying to rule the world with their particular martial art. Ken is an empty vessel of a character who has little to no personality at all, except being the good guy and really, really strong.

I'd say 40 - 60 chapters is enough to get your fill. But reading the whole thing is really pointless. In the end the appeal of HNK is surface only and mostly aesthetic. It's not even particularly impressively drawn tbh.

[Squire Grooktook]

- Henchmen kill villagers for fun
- Henchmen threaten to kill children, but are always killed by Ken just before they do
- Henchmen's leader is a big bad guy who gets off on sadism, just before being killed by Ken
- All big bad guys want to rule the world and be the best martial artist - before being killed by Ken
- Anyone who sides with Ken and fights alongside him is almost guaranteed to die shortly thereafter
- Lots of manly tears. There are a lot of crying men in this. A lot.
- Shades of subtle homoeroticism

Best read in Mr. Plinkett voice.

[Xyga]

- a bruce lee mad max hybrid explodes the heads of giant punks wearing shoulder pads
10/10
[/review]

[Skykid]

- a bruce lee mad max hybrid explodes the heads of giant punks wearing shoulder pads
10/10
[/review]

Yeah, 10/10 for insane Japanese concept, just not repeated with almost no creativity for 220 chapters.

That's exactly what it is about HNK too; we love it for what it is. But believe me when I say there's very littl beyond that aesthetic if you're planning to read the manga.

[FinalBaton]

Yeah, 10/10 for insane Japanese concept, just not repeated with almost no creativity for 220 chapters.

That's exactly what it is about HNK too; we love it for what it is. But believe me when I say there's very littl beyond that aesthetic if you're planning to read the manga.

that's good to know. I'll stick with the anime then

[Xyga]

- a bruce lee mad max hybrid explodes the heads of giant punks wearing shoulder pads
10/10
[/review]

Yeah, 10/10 for insane Japanese concept, just not repeated with almost no creativity for 220 chapters.

That's exactly what it is about HNK too; we love it for what it is. But believe me when I say there's very littl beyond that aesthetic if you're planning to read the manga.

Of course, people also love HNK because it's a symbol, an anti moeblob/shonenshit meme, even for the Japanese.

(I'll add that in France it's also famous for the hilarious dubs of the baddies, same with City Hunter, the guys who did those were on crack)

[Skykid]

Of course, it's the antithesis of everything weak and feeble that modern anime has become; but at the same time it's still game for criticism.

Manly as fuck, yes. Decidedly hollow? Unfortunately yes.

Don't get me wrong, I went in for the head busting ultra violence and unfettered machismo rather than an intelligent plot. The problem is there's barely a plot at all and very little to savour after its done its one-trick the first fifty times.

Seinen is my waifu, and in my opinion it's home to some of the best creative storytelling in all of manga. HNK only needed to include a little of that, but Hara and Co. seemingly couldn't think of much beyond everyone is somebody's brother and Ken needs to kill bad people for the sake of love.

[EmperorIng]

Hokuto no Ken anime for me is the equivalent of comfort food. Every episode is essentially the same - sometimes literally, because of the constant reused animation - but it's just a mellow groove you settle in to, cuddling up and watching evil guys terrorize villagers and then Ken blow up bad guys with another ass-pull martial-arts move. Then sometimes a melancholic song plays to tell you that something meaningful has happened.

It feels like chicken soup for the soul.

[trap15]

Hokuto no Ken anime for me is the equivalent of comfort food. It feels like chicken soup for the soul.

Goddamn if that ain't the truth!

[BryanM]

It feels like chicken soup for the soul.

Dooom Guy.

He's the best, since he has a mission and he's gonna work really hard at making it happen.

Really, having a goal and working toward making it happen is the difference between a good story and bad one. Even the now-reviled "Harem" trope is viable as long as the world itself isn't toothless. (Examples I guess would be Steins;Gate on the subtle end to Dungeon Defense on the obvious end.)

weak and feeble that modern anime has become

>_>

[EmperorIng]

Kenshiro's goal is to prove that Hokuto Shinken (which has existed for a thousand years) wa muteki da!

Even the now-reviled "Harem" trope is viable as long as the world itself isn't toothless. (Examples I guess would be Steins;Gate on the subtle end to Dungeon Defense on the obvious end.)

Such examples when Tenchi Muyo exists! That shit is my got-damn jam.

[FinalBaton]

Hokuto no Ken anime for me is the equivalent of comfort food. Every episode is essentially the same - sometimes literally, because of the constant reused animation - but it's just a mellow groove you settle in to, cuddling up and watching evil guys terrorize villagers and then Ken blow up bad guys with another ass-pull martial-arts move. Then sometimes a melancholic song plays to tell you that something meaningful has happened.

It feels like chicken soup for the soul.

Very much agreed

[PuToTyra]

Berserk is something I can recommend, it's also on hiatus...again...

continuing my random modern anime kick

Still watching Symphogear, now on the third season [GX], it still feels like more of the same, but with like 4x the budget it used to have [which isn't much, considering how jank the prior seasons looked]. I still wish the people would act more like people.
I'll probably keep watching, even into the fourth and fifth seasons when those air.
Hibiki is super endearing.

As a huge fan of Symphogear everything, I don't understand how can you not enjoy this multi track drifting.
Christ is best girl, tho.

[GaijinPunch]

As Skykid is totally right about what anime has become... despite really, really bad examples posted in image form, I've gotten some older things and am trying some out that I have basically zero relationship with. Up first: The original MS Gundam TV series. So far... one episode in. It's a manageable 43... and while I hear it gets boring, the target audience means I don't have to go hunt down subtitle files. And design wise, it's what I want right now. What people 35 years ago thought the future would look like. Love it, although the Crusher Joe movie wins.

[KAI]

hypppe!

[ZacharyB]

The anime adaptation of Mazinger Zero??

[Bananamatic]

symphogear is great
though GX was apparently the worst, didn't feel bad to me, just the music was less memorable
G was the best by far

[BryanM]

urgh all these sissy demasculated children's cartoons



argh disgusting so beta so moe

[WelshMegalodon]

Shingeki no Kyojin couldn't live up to its own potential, though.

My bad, that's not Shingeki no Kyojin.