Anime. Opinion and recommendations.

[Palademon]

Can't tell if your first list of examples arethings you like or not...

What's offensive about Maka? Her position whilst extreme is understandable, not that it's a healthy one. Her male role model failed her so she hates him. That's the most defining trait I can think of, so I don't know what's bad about it. My parents split when I was 7. They weren't even ever married. But they have both been married, just never to eachother. Remember, a series isn't trying to generalise, just bring out a possibility. So you shouldn't be offended. Although I am prbably missing your criticsm of her.

Hellsing's supposed to be awesome fun.

Haruhi is just slice of life trying to have a plot, and that adds novelty to the usual formula. I actually think the movie makes the philosophical side of it more interesting, but you'd have to suffer the second season to watch it.

Highschool of the Dead is an ecchi. I understand that it seems to degrade women, but they aren't pushing for a political statement here. It's basicaly a step short of porn, but with a plot, and it cna be enjoyed for that.

As for Higurashi, I'm probably in your boat. Doesnt stop it from possibly being good though. It just doesn't seem to be your thing.

The problem you seem to have, and the reason people might suspect you of hating anime, is that you seem to expect an attempt at something great and meaningful in everything, when somthings are just tyring to be fun. This is relatable to the haters because some claim they've tried to watch anime but "It's all ", which is untrue, but a stance people will default to when intimidated. A prime poblem with bringing anyone in is they have high hopes, thinking if tons of people enjoy something, they must enjoy it too for it to be really good, without considering variation for taste because they think of anime as a genre, so they expect it all to be the same. So when you introduce them to something, trying to show the best of the best, you can end up shooting yourself in the foot, and alienating someone, just because they'd prefer something else but don't know it exists, or you do actually show them something good, and they spend the rest of their time with anime disappointed, trying to relive their high because you succeeded in showing them the best.

I just look for stuff and if I enjoy I watch it. I'm fairly good at accepting things as they are, and since they're are many different options I usually just move on. The reason fans need to overblow things and go "THIS IS GOOD" when it could be greatly opinionated is because they're tyring to stop people trudging through this every season, looking for something good:

Spoiler

A massive list of usually untranslated names with generic descriptions.

People often recommend things, saying they're good without saying WHY or what genre it is. However I am person that enjoys quite diverse things so I have no trouble jumping on trains and deciding for myself. I'm glad that you say you like anime, much for the same reasons I do. Just tyr not to be disappointed when something's hyped. Like others I say Death Note, because it usually works to demonstrate to people that anime can have a decent plot and can lack some annoying, commonly perceived tropes. It just introduces a concept, then goes along with it. If you watched Code Geass, you should have no trouble. Code geass is usually my follow up reocmmendation for people who liked Death Note. Death Note is Code Geass without the anime tropes liken highschool and robots. It also has what most perceive as a less redeemable main character. Also, many people dislike the ending, but I personally hold the position that it just serves well to the message. It works well to pose the quesiton of how black and white morals are etc. But don't be upset if you find it too pretentious, or overrated. Just learn from what you've and move onto to more that you enjoy. Don't listen claiming to have more informed opinions. I know this sounds up on a high horse, but they will help the idea that all anime is a certain thing and that can sting if you don't like it. Anyone trying to profess one thing over another MUST give a reason. As you can see, many people in this very thread have written off genres that they particularly don't like. The best critic doesn't just tell you what's good and bad. They say what is good and bad, and msot importantly, they tell you who will enjoy it. If you thought my summaries of series were too opinionated, ignore them. I try to be more objective and educational.

I can rant like this forever. I now feel like I should be hired to review anime...

 

[jhoroz]

Yo man, you're lookin' at the wrong places. Baccano! is where that shit be at, son:


And if you're lookin' for something more deep and philosophical, then you can't go wrong with Monster, Ghost in the Shell SAC, Kino's Journey, Death Note (this is more brain food than really philosophical, but still a very good anime)

Other good examples:
Durarara!! (set in the same universe as Baccano!, except in modern day Tokyo)
Steins Gate
Fate Zero
Raxephon
Gankutsuou

 

[ex275w]

I find the lack of Fairy Tail, Katekyo Hitman Reborn and Beelzebub in this thread...disturbing!

Why? They're all pretty basic shounen anime that, however entertaining, generally don't have much in the way of sophisticated storytelling and depth.

Dude, have you seen the racks of the girls in Fairy Tail?
Have you seen the hot asses of the bishies of Katekyo Hitman Reborn?
So much depth. You don't even care for the story.

Well, I'm not exactly counting the depth of cleavage, or the endless chasm of a fine ass. OP seems to care more about storytelling than sheer entertainment.

Well considering the OP liked Elfen Lied and Code Geass...

Also, I was joking, fanservice is perhaps the biggest obstacle anime needs to overcome to become popular again.

 

[AsurasEyes]

Can't tell if your first list of examples arethings you like or not...

What's offensive about Maka? Her position whilst extreme is understandable, not that it's a healthy one. Her male role model failed her so she hates him. That's the most defining trait I can think of, so I don't know what's bad about it. My parents split when I was 7. They weren't even ever married. But they have both been married, just never to eachother. Remember, a series isn't trying to generalise, just bring out a possibility. So you shouldn't be offended. Although I am prbably missing your criticsm of her.

Hellsing's supposed to be awesome fun.

Haruhi is just slice of life trying to have a plot, and that adds novelty to the usual formula. I actually think the movie makes the philosophical side of it more interesting, but you'd have to suffer the second season to watch it.

Highschool of the Dead is an ecchi. I understand that it seems to degrade women, but they aren't pushing for a political statement here. It's basicaly a step short of porn, but with a plot, and it cna be enjoyed for that.

As for Higurashi, I'm probably in your boat. Doesnt stop it from possibly being good though. It just doesn't seem to be your thing.

The problem you seem to have, and the reason people might suspect you of hating anime, is that you seem to expect an attempt at something great and meaningful in everything, when somthings are just tyring to be fun. This is relatable to the haters because some claim they've tried to watch anime but "It's all ", which is untrue, but a stance people will default to when intimidated. A prime poblem with bringing anyone in is they have high hopes, thinking if tons of people enjoy something, they must enjoy it too for it to be really good, without considering variation for taste because they think of anime as a genre, so they expect it all to be the same. So when you introduce them to something, trying to show the best of the best, you can end up shooting yourself in the foot, and alienating someone, just because they'd prefer something else but don't know it exists, or you do actually show them something good, and they spend the rest of their time with anime disappointed, trying to relive their high because you succeeded in showing them the best.

I just look for stuff and if I enjoy I watch it. I'm fairly good at accepting things as they are, and since they're are many different options I usually just move on. The reason fans need to overblow things and go "THIS IS GOOD" when it could be greatly opinionated is because they're tyring to stop people trudging through this every season, looking for something good:

Spoiler

A massive list of usually untranslated names with generic descriptions.

People often recommend things, saying they're good without saying WHY or what genre it is. However I am person that enjoys quite diverse things so I have no trouble jumping on trains and deciding for myself. I'm glad that you say you like anime, much for the same reasons I do. Just tyr not to be disappointed when something's hyped. Like others I say Death Note, because it usually works to demonstrate to people that anime can have a decent plot and can lack some annoying, commonly perceived tropes. It just introduces a concept, then goes along with it. If you watched Code Geass, you should have no trouble. Code geass is usually my follow up reocmmendation for people who liked Death Note. Death Note is Code Geass without the anime tropes liken highschool and robots. It also has what most perceive as a less redeemable main character. It works well to pose the quesiton of how black and white moral are etc. But don't be upset if you find it too pretentious, or overrated. Just learn from what you've and move onto to more that you enjoy. Don't listen claiming to have more informed opinions. I know this sounds up on a high horse, but they will help the idea that all anime is a certain thing and that can sting if you don't like it. Anyone trying to profess one thing over another MUST give a reason. As you can see, many people in this very thread have written off genres that they particularly don't like. The best critic doesn't just tell you what's good and bad. They say what is good and bad, and msot importantly, they tell you who will enjoy it. If you thought my summaries of series were too opinionated, ignore them. I try to be more objective and educational.

I can rant like this forever. I now feel like I should be hired to review anime...

(TL;DR lol. <-----Irony)

Frankly that'd be a pretty kick ass job in my opinion. Being able to say what you felt about something, maybe be the one distinct voice in the colorless slurry that is critical review, but I'm gonna curb that discussion.

The whole, "I disliked this because it's just trying to be fun rather than anything deep" isn't an argument that rings true in my mind. PSG was trying to be fun and it succeeded by never really wasting time with character development or story. It presented the concept and just fooled around, and that's perfectly acceptable in my mind. I write on the side, and it's a ***** and a half to make something "just fun", so I applaud those who do it right. But the problem I have with most of these "Just for funsies" shows are that they abandon the whole fun aspect when they try to take the dark and edgy route and delve into the drama surrounding the characters, supposing that we give a damn for the guy who's just a big ol' brick who breaks things for a living. It's rarely well written and doesn't fit with the characters and their established personalities(most of the time), and it slows the whole thing to a crawl, turning it from chaos in a bottle into mild disarray pooling from the broken shards of glass.

Now, sometimes this works for the better. Hellsing did really well with this when they made Seras face her darkest memories and murder the fuck out of Blitz, and in the Soul Eater manga, when Chrona snaps and stabs Medusa repeatedly with a massive grin on his face, these are the things that allow them to stick in my mind as merely disappointing rather than terrible. Trigun and Berserk and PSG are some of my favorite stories because they managed to integrate this into the plot without being awkward.

Just because something's "just for fun" doesn't mean it can't have something to say, and I've never believed that if something's "just for fun", that means it's excused for not having anything well written or emotionally weighty. Hellsing had the Major's call to war and literally every character in the show except the main character, Soul Eater had every scene with Chrona, but that doesn't mean they should have tried for anything deep and interesting.

 

[jamesbrown]

Hetalia. All you'll ever need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMVJSr1OCLg

Watch the subbed version, its better.
on another note: WATCH HETALIA! its on hulu, so you have no excuse.

Other good shows are:

Cowboy Bebop

and

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

The later being the greatest, most ridiculous, outragous, crazy show ever; AND IT IS SO GOOD.

Also watch

Fullmetal Alchemist:BROTHERHOOD

Much Much Much better then the original series, its truer to the manga

Also if you have the time

One Piece and Mushi-Shi

One Piece being one crazy quest filled with adventure; while Mushi-Shi is about a doctor of sorts who help people cope/deal with these creatures called Mushi

 

[Palademon]

(TL;DR lol. <-----Irony)

Frankly that'd be a pretty kick ass job in my opinion. Being able to say what you felt about something, maybe be the one distinct voice in the colorless slurry that is critical review, but I'm gonna curb that discussion.

The whole, "I disliked this because it's just trying to be fun rather than anything deep" isn't an argument that rings true in my mind. PSG was trying to be fun and it succeeded by never really wasting time with character development or story. It presented the concept and just fooled around, and that's perfectly acceptable in my mind. I write on the side, and it's a ***** and a half to make something "just fun", so I applaud those who do it right. But the problem I have with most of these "Just for funsies" shows are that they abandon the whole fun aspect when they try to take the dark and edgy route and delve into the drama surrounding the characters, supposing that we give a damn for the guy who's just a big ol' brick who breaks things for a living. It's rarely well written and doesn't fit with the characters and their established personalities(most of the time), and it slows the whole thing to a crawl, turning it from chaos in a bottle into mild disarray pooling from the broken shards of glass.

Now, sometimes this works for the better. Hellsing did really well with this when they made Seras face her darkest memories and murder the fuck out of Blitz, and in the Soul Eater manga, when Chrona snaps and stabs Medusa repeatedly with a massive grin on his face, these are the things that allow them to stick in my mind as merely disappointing rather than terrible. Trigun and Berserk and PSG are some of my favorite stories because they managed to integrate this into the plot without being awkward.

Just because something's "just for fun" doesn't mean it can't have something to say, and I've never believed that if something's "just for fun", that means it's excused for not having anything well written or emotionally weighty. Hellsing had the Major's call to war and literally every character in the show except the main character, Soul Eater had every scene with Chrona, but that doesn't mean they should have tried for anything deep and interesting.

Sorry. I wasn't trying to imply that "being fun", was some get out of jail free card, making it immune to criticism. Of course anything you enjoy will be fun in a sense aswell.

I get your point that they probably shouldn't bother with certain aspects, but I felt your feelings on certain things might've been due to hype, or working from the top then taking away points rather that starting from nothing and adding. Although that seems like a way of saying glass half full, which is probably why I tend to not dislike many series.

I unfortunately don't have a good way of tackling a talk on shows that try to have a silly and serious duality. For example, I found HOTD to be voer the top, but could adjust my mind to it, and yet still enjoy that it tried to somewhat accurately portray people's reactions to the situation. Mostly in a "man is the true monster way". That was probably msotly due to adaption focusing too much on fanservice instead of it just being a background elemnet, since I've heard that the manga, whilst having the same style, doesn't focus on it as much.

I'm an awful reviewer right not, because I can't tell you why I thought Soul Eater did comedy and seriousness simultaneusly well. The comedy actually, unlike other shonen, made me like all characters, because they all had their likable moments for me. They may have abandoned one tone for another, since the sense that they were never present atthe same time, since they wanted an overall serious plot, bu I didn't feel like character attitudes during the transition changed at all.

Right, forget me reviewing anything with any sense of skill. I can't think of a good response for representing my opinion and trying to understand your specific problems on these case by case basis(es).

Edit: Most of my rant was about outsiders misuderstanding things and making generalisations, and that you should expeience what you can to make your own mind up, especially since your opinions don't sem to be based much on genre, and people are still going "Watch this because it's good", and implying that things are the best things, thus building hype and it causing to crash down horribly if you have a different opinion. I contineu to sigh at the recommendations that keep doing this. But read the thing you TL;DR'd if youwant my recommendation and WHY.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Hellsing: Alucard is not meant to be related it is just supposed to be violent and killing shit. I didn't go into Demolition Man expecting a great thought provoking movie neither should anything like that be expected here.
High School of the Dead: Honestly, what did you go into this expecting? I don't mean to come across badly but I really want to know what you thought you were getting here. I'm actually genuinely curious to what you thought you were getting and how told you otherwise? Same for Hellsing actually.

Here's a tip next time you look for an anime and it says ecchi [http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/highschool-dead-online] don't watch it unless you want fanservice.

Right that said I'll give you suggestions if you give me some stuff that you do like as in movies genres and etc. I mean there's no point in me saying go watch Big O it's pretty good if you don't like sci-fi noir stuff.

I disliked Hellsing and Highschool of the Dead because they were content to wallow in their genre rather than be anything else. Berserk was a competent drama and philosophical piece, along with being incredibly violent and sexualized. Alucard was a big boring white dude who growled absolutely terrible one liners, and the fact that Crispin Freeman is a great voice actor angers me because he deserves a better script.
High School of the Dead could be okay if it didn't embody that frankly scary nerd fantasy that the zombie apocalypse would be cool, along with treating women like objects. It was...objectionable. Even for me, and I watch Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.

Big O does sound very interesting to me, I'll have to check that out. Thanks!

That is kinda my point though that is all they are meant to be. You shouldn't have expected anything more out of those two animes. To go back to another example you don't go into a Stephen Segal movie expecting anything other than a Stephen Segal movie. Now that said it doesn't excuse stagnating and just being that but that is all they are meant to be they were never meant to push the envelop or be extrodinary.

Although more important if you give me some likes and dislikes from other media like TV and books you like I can give you more animes that may seem interesting you to.

 

[The White Hunter]

Nah. Thing is, I really really, REALLY like anime. The art style is pretty, the characters are very expressive, and it has a lot of potential to tell stories that literally just cannot be done with live action. That's been my problem with it though. Most anime I've seen use the fact that they aren't confined by the rules of reality to openly flaunt it in ways that don't make any goddamn sense.

If there are rules within the anime universe that go unbroken throughout the series but the series has some rules differ from our universe is that acceptable?

If so I offer the same recommendation I always do: One Piece.

 

[Gitty101]

My Anime list includes titles such as:

Trigun (good start since I see you mentioned it)

Outlaw Star (quirky, but decent story and characters, plus lots of gunslinging)

Cowboy Bebop (pretty much critically acclaimed, good story, characters, gunfights etc)

Black Lagoon (... pretty much keeps with the entire theme of this list)

Yes, I do tend to gravitate towards a very specific type of anime, but all of the above are, in my opinion at least, excellent.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Everybody in the universe needs to watch Nichijou.

It's like... what if you took the over-the-top style of Gurren Lagann and mixed it with a normal life anime.
It's cute, hilarious, and a blast to watch.

As for suggestions, I'll just list my favorites.

^ Nichijou (duhh)
Angel Beats
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Durarara!!
Baccano!!
Fooly Cooly (FLCL)
K-On!
Persona 4: The Animation, if you like the game.
I'll probably catch a lot of flack for this one, but Naruto.
and last but not least, Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt

Here are ones that I haven't finished, but would still suggest:

Darker Than Black
Fractale
Death Note
Neon Genesis Evangelion

 

[Ocelano]

The first anime I ever liked, Hellsing, had a fun story, but it will never be classified "good," unless the world is destroyed and "Twilight" is the only other piece of literature left on the planet.

That said, I have NEVER seen an anime where the main character wasn't a Mary-Sue or Marty-Stu.

The one anime I keep on my hard drive at all times, "Initial D" is just as bad. "Oh there is no way an 86 could beat an R32 on the down hill." Then Takumi wins the race with minimal trouble. Well, okay, obviously dude didn't know how to drive it (personal opinion, based on what I know about cars and driving), but still. And I actually got tired of "Bleach" because every time Ichigo came up against a boss who outclassed him he had some new magic trick that is ridiculously overpowered against people who unlocked that same power decades before he ever even heard about that power:

Rukia's brother: "Don't speak of Bankai as if you actually achieved it!"
Ichigo: "Who says I haven't?"

And Rukia's brother has been Bankai-ing for over two decades at this point.

Then, we get to the Bounts and he uses his Bankai in his hollow form. What the fuck, seriously? What next, is he going to drop a God-damned planet on the next guy? Is he going to absorb Goku in a crossover episode and destroy everything in all of soul society in one cosmic blast? (I hope I mentioned the right character, my former roommate watch DBZ, and I have never seen it in any order other than an episode I watched, shook my head at, then changed the channel.)




That said, I really enjoy Initial D, and recommend it to any of my friends who are interested in cars.

The bounts, as with all denizens of the horrid "filler world" do not and never will exist and therefore by extension nothing done to or against them ever happened. That said bleach isn't the only series out there reliant on ye olde "eleventh hour super power" as I beleive tv tropes calls them.

back on topic however I have recently been finding myself to be enjoying a bit of an oldy "his & her circumstances" purely high school drama but more grounded because of that by extension "clannad" should also be mentioned but as it already had I figured I would start with the other one.

"Darker than black" season 1 certainly season 2 possibly not so much I left thinking that either I had really misunderstood the ending or it had just made no sense

Happy to see some reference has already been made to Hetalia the show that taught me everything about world history and politics that I ever bothered to remember

I would reccomend sergeant frog but you were worried about cultural context and that show is loaded with it.

Legend of the legendary heroes gave the distinct impression of a tale half told some things got crammed into the anime VERY last minute with little or no explanation but the first half was pretty good.

yu yu hakusho has taken more than a few hours of my life of late.

Slightly off topic have you considered checking some of the abridged series out there? most are pretty horrible bad equipment crackly voices and so on but there are quite a few gems biggest recommendation goes to teamfourstars Dragon Ball Z abridged. I personally believe the quality on this series is better than that of the official english dub

Pretty much all the others I would of recommended have been covered so enjoy watching

 

[ex275w]

Hellsing: Alucard is not meant to be related it is just supposed to be violent and killing shit. I didn't go into Demolition Man expecting a great thought provoking movie neither should anything like that be expected here.
High School of the Dead: Honestly, what did you go into this expecting? I don't mean to come across badly but I really want to know what you thought you were getting here. I'm actually genuinely curious to what you thought you were getting and how told you otherwise? Same for Hellsing actually.

Here's a tip next time you look for an anime and it says ecchi [http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/highschool-dead-online] don't watch it unless you want fanservice.

Right that said I'll give you suggestions if you give me some stuff that you do like as in movies genres and etc. I mean there's no point in me saying go watch Big O it's pretty good if you don't like sci-fi noir stuff.

I disliked Hellsing and Highschool of the Dead because they were content to wallow in their genre rather than be anything else. Berserk was a competent drama and philosophical piece, along with being incredibly violent and sexualized. Alucard was a big boring white dude who growled absolutely terrible one liners, and the fact that Crispin Freeman is a great voice actor angers me because he deserves a better script.
High School of the Dead could be okay if it didn't embody that frankly scary nerd fantasy that the zombie apocalypse would be cool, along with treating women like objects. It was...objectionable. Even for me, and I watch Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.

Big O does sound very interesting to me, I'll have to check that out. Thanks!

That is kinda my point though that is all they are meant to be. You shouldn't have expected anything more out of those two animes. To go back to another example you don't go into a Stephen Seagal movie expecting anything other than a Stephen Seagal movie. Now that said it doesn't excuse stagnating and just being that but that is all they are meant to be they were never meant to push the envelop or be extraordinary.

Although more important if you give me some likes and dislikes from other media like TV and books you like I can give you more animes that may seem interesting you to.

Deliberately dumb series or should actually try to push the envelope and try to be extraordinary. If not, they are starting to stagnate, which you said, isn't a very good idea. Even a Transformers movie should try to be the best movie it can be. Saying something shouldn't push the envelope and not be extraordinary is self-defeating, both for the audience and for the creator.

Also OP, do give us your favorite stuff form other media.

 

[Blackdoom]

My recommendations would be.
TTGL.
Future Diary.
Neon Genesis Evangilion.
Code Geass.
Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex.
Robotech.
Gundam SEED.
Afro Samurai.

 

[Baneat]

I enjoy watching deliberately uncomplex anime (typically slice-of-life) like Yuru Yuri and Lucky Star. I even occasionally enjoy badly written anime that hits enough interest regardless (Sword Art Online 100%). I especially like YRYuru because it deconstructs its own devices for the purpose of humour (pantsu on head sister etc.).

But as an actual serious medium anime is absolutely terrible, I mean, really fucking awful. They're often marketing unapologetically to horny and lonely 18-25 demographics and insert intellectually insulting "fanservice" for absolutely no reason other than to gain viewership. Find me an anime that seriously deals with themes like Dexter (TV) does with serial killers, or any gay couple in anime whom they don't use for comedy and seriously explore. Black people in anime who are not a stereotype (I know of exactly one)? If I want pantyshots I can probably find it in google images, don't put them in unless they're relevant.

Fact is that will not happen because that is what sells.

So if you're not looking for humour the only anime I've seen that I can recommend at all is Welcome to the NHK because it is truly interesting and sympathetically sheds light on a growing phenomenon within Japan.

 

[ex275w]

I enjoy watching deliberately uncomplex anime (typically slice-of-life) like Yuru Yuri and Lucky Star. I even occasionally enjoy badly written anime that hits enough interest regardless (Sword Art Online 100%). I especially like YRYuru because it deconstructs its own devices for the purpose of humour (pantsu on head sister etc.).

But as an actual serious medium anime is absolutely terrible, I mean, really fucking awful. They're often marketing unapologetically to horny and lonely 18-25 demographics and insert intellectually insulting "fanservice" for absolutely no reason other than to gain viewership. Find me an anime that seriously deals with themes like Dexter (TV) does with serial killers, or any gay couple in anime whom they don't use for comedy and seriously explore. Black people in anime who are not a stereotype (I know of exactly one)? If I want pantyshots I can probably find it in google images, don't put them in unless they're relevant.

Fact is that will not happen because that is what sells.

So if you're not looking for humour the only anime I've seen that I can recommend at all is Welcome to the NHK because it is truly interesting and sympathetically sheds light on a growing phenomenon within Japan.

Monster is a fascinating insight into what makes a man a Monster, and it deals with a serial killer. Even a MIT professor (Junot Diaz) called it his favorite guilty pleasure and heartily recommends it.

Takako Shimura has plenty of works dealing with LGBT issues and is best known for Aoi Hana (about a lesbian couple) and Wandering Son(about a transgirl(or what's the correct term)).

Black Lagoon has a pretty cool black man that acts as the leader of the protagonists. Utena also has some non-stereotypical black characters. Though they may be from the India.

Welcome to The NHK is a great recommendation. Thought the manga and original novel are better than the anime.

EDIT: Most shows that have a lot of fanservice sell like crap in Japan.

 

[Baneat]

I enjoy watching deliberately uncomplex anime (typically slice-of-life) like Yuru Yuri and Lucky Star. I even occasionally enjoy badly written anime that hits enough interest regardless (Sword Art Online 100%). I especially like YRYuru because it deconstructs its own devices for the purpose of humour (pantsu on head sister etc.).

But as an actual serious medium anime is absolutely terrible, I mean, really fucking awful. They're often marketing unapologetically to horny and lonely 18-25 demographics and insert intellectually insulting "fanservice" for absolutely no reason other than to gain viewership. Find me an anime that seriously deals with themes like Dexter (TV) does with serial killers, or any gay couple in anime whom they don't use for comedy and seriously explore. Black people in anime who are not a stereotype (I know of exactly one)? If I want pantyshots I can probably find it in google images, don't put them in unless they're relevant.

Fact is that will not happen because that is what sells.

So if you're not looking for humour the only anime I've seen that I can recommend at all is Welcome to the NHK because it is truly interesting and sympathetically sheds light on a growing phenomenon within Japan.

Monster is a fascinating insight into what makes a man a Monster, and it deals with a serial killer. Even a MIT professor (Junot Diaz) called it his favorite guilty pleasure and heartily recommends it.

Takako Shimura has plenty of works dealing with LGBT issues and is best known for Aoi Hana (about a lesbian couple) and Wandering Son(about a transgirl(or what's the correct term)).

Black Lagoon has a pretty cool black man that acts as the leader of the protagonists. Utena also has some non-stereotypical black characters. Though they may be from the India.

Welcome to The NHK is a great recommendation. Thought the manga and original novel are better than the anime.

EDIT: Most shows that have a lot of fanservice sell like crap in Japan.

Nice recommendations. That's more like what the medium should be.

Ecchi+/harem and gratuitous pervy sections absolutely do sell in japan otherwise they wouldn't be churning out sickening stuff like KissxSis and Haiyore! Nyaruko-san all the time. Or in SAO where every female character who comes into contact with the extremely flat and boring Kirito wants his dick for no reason (There's no end to his Gary Stu status, now even his sister lusts after him and she's got ridiculous big tits and she's said to be like 14 and she's his sister for fuck's sake, yuck) No reason to add a very long shot of each female character's hind quarters (And we have a painfully long scene where his sister bathes) at some point in the story other than to excite the demographic. Are you telling me SAO, whose characters all have quite sexual/elaborate outfits and more than a few fanservice moments isn't hugely popular right now? Even Hyouka which was a fun anime about people solving pointless mysteries has the occasional scene and that sold very well.

I'll watch all your recommendations, by the way.

PS. Also if you find any that actually address the themes of rape and paedophilia I want to know.

 

[ex275w]

I enjoy watching deliberately uncomplex anime (typically slice-of-life) like Yuru Yuri and Lucky Star. I even occasionally enjoy badly written anime that hits enough interest regardless (Sword Art Online 100%). I especially like YRYuru because it deconstructs its own devices for the purpose of humour (pantsu on head sister etc.).

But as an actual serious medium anime is absolutely terrible, I mean, really fucking awful. They're often marketing unapologetically to horny and lonely 18-25 demographics and insert intellectually insulting "fanservice" for absolutely no reason other than to gain viewership. Find me an anime that seriously deals with themes like Dexter (TV) does with serial killers, or any gay couple in anime whom they don't use for comedy and seriously explore. Black people in anime who are not a stereotype (I know of exactly one)? If I want pantyshots I can probably find it in google images, don't put them in unless they're relevant.

Fact is that will not happen because that is what sells.

So if you're not looking for humour the only anime I've seen that I can recommend at all is Welcome to the NHK because it is truly interesting and sympathetically sheds light on a growing phenomenon within Japan.

Monster is a fascinating insight into what makes a man a Monster, and it deals with a serial killer. Even a MIT professor (Junot Diaz) called it his favorite guilty pleasure and heartily recommends it.

Takako Shimura has plenty of works dealing with LGBT issues and is best known for Aoi Hana (about a lesbian couple) and Wandering Son(about a transgirl(or what's the correct term)).

Black Lagoon has a pretty cool black man that acts as the leader of the protagonists. Utena also has some non-stereotypical black characters. Though they may be from the India.

Welcome to The NHK is a great recommendation. Thought the manga and original novel are better than the anime.

EDIT: Most shows that have a lot of fanservice sell like crap in Japan.

Nice recommendations. That's more like what the medium should be.

Ecchi+/harem and gratuitous pervy sections absolutely do sell in japan otherwise they wouldn't be churning out sickening stuff like KissxSis and Haiyore! Nyaruko-san all the time. Or in SAO where every female character who comes into contact with the extremely flat and boring Kirito wants his dick for no reason (There's no end to his Gary Stu status, now even his sister lusts after him and she's got ridiculous big tits and she's said to be like 14 and she's his sister for fuck's sake, yuck) No reason to add a very long shot of each female character's hind quarters (And we have a painfully long scene where his sister bathes) at some point in the story other than to excite the demographic. Are you telling me SAO, whose characters all have quite sexual/elaborate outfits and more than a few fanservice moments isn't hugely popular right now? Even Hyouka which was a fun anime about people solving pointless mysteries has the occasional scene and that sold very well.

I said most fanservice shows, not all of them... and sure they are "popular", but it can barely make up for the budget of the show. the only really successful recent harem series is to-LOVE-Ru.

Most of the incestuous series are "popular" because of the controversy surrounding the content, but people aren't lining up to buy all the DVDs.

Also, would you consider something like Gurren Lagann Ecchi? Cause if you do I can see why you think everything has fanservice.

What is SAO?

Also I would reccomend Planetes for you, no fanservice, a little bit of filler, hard sci-fi but it's a fascinating look at the Space Race that includes themes of environmentalism, class warfare and the dangers of exploring space.

I guess I'm good at finding series with no fanservice or something.

Paranoia Agent has a subplot about a father selling videos about his teen daughter. So I guess that's about pedophilia.
Bitter Virgin is basically the manga version of Precious.
Perfect Blue also deals with an actress being harassed and almost getting raped.

Why did I actually have to remember this stuff... ugh.

 

[Baneat]

I said most fanservice shows, not all of them... and sure they are "popular", but it can barely make up for the budget of the show. the only really successful recent harem series is to-LOVE-Ru.

Most of the incestuous series are "popular" because of the controversy surrounding the content, but people aren't lining up to buy all the DVDs.

Also, would you consider something like Gurren Lagann Ecchi? Cause if you do I can see why you think everything has fanservice.

What is SAO?

Also I would reccomend Planetes for you, no fanservice, a little bit of filler, hard sci-fi but it's a fascinating look at the Space Race that includes themes of environmentalism, class warfare and the dangers of exploring space.

I guess I'm good at finding series with no fanservice or something.

Sword Art Online. I play World of Warcraft and if you play games a lot that's really enough of a draw to make you watch it and continue to watch it. It's hugely popular and I used to watch it with my younger brother sometimes because it was basically an adventure anime until they added this painfully creepy incest subplot in an anime about exploring online worlds and now I can't, simple. It's based on a teenager's writing (I think as a fan-fiction?) and the most hilarious part of it was the passage in volume 16.5 of which (Thankfully they decided NOT to include this at the relevant point of the anime.

"Two years' worth of semen made a glopping noise as it flowed endlessly into Asuna"

Gurren Lagann? I have no interest in mecha as a whole.

Here's a good challenge. An anime where the romance is between characters who are deliberately unattractive - romance that deals with feelings instead of visuality. if the protagonist is unattractive his partner must not be either, otherwise it'd be like pulling what they do in Accel World and make a self-insert character.

 

[MammothBlade]

But that doesn't explain why Code Geass,, Elfen Lied, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Trigun, Ouran High School Host Club, and Berserk are still among my most-cited examples of good storytelling.

Higurashi: There's a line I have to draw in the sand when it comes to the idea of fucked up stuff. I got physically ill watching this.

Odd. What's not "f**ked up" about Berserk and Elfen Lied as compared to Higurashi? How did you get physically ill? My perception is probably warped, but none of that makes me physically sick. Not the torture and brutal murder in Higurashi. Not Elfen Lied's supernatural dismemberment, and not the abominations and rape in Berserk. No, it's all fascinating. How does one cross lines that the others don't?

EDIT: I'm looking for a specific anime. To give you an idea of my tastes, I enjoyed the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, the Tolkein books, Jurassic Park, Chronicle, Watchmen, The Ronin, The Invisible Man, Dracula, The Wolfman, and Dragon Age Origins.

Try Mirai Nikki (Future Diary). It has all the trappings of a great survival thriller.

 

[Alaster Angelo]

Every form of media is capable of being amazing. Anime? I fucking loved Full Metal Alchemist. Manga? Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is one of the manliest things I've ever read. Comics? I actually cried at the end of Kieron Gillen's Journey into Mystery. Cartoons? Hello Earth's Mightiest Heroes and DC Animation in general.

Just go out there and watch anything. If it doesn't interest you within the second episode then move on. We can throw our recommendations out all you like but only you know exactly what you're going to like.