Anime recommendations

[Spanglish Guy]

I have just started looking at anime this past week and wanted to ask those of you here who have a seen a few series what they would recommend. There seem to be an enormous number of different animes to watch so I am a little unsure where to start.

I tend to prefer series with a decent amount of action scenes, an interesting plot (it can be over the top as well), or both. However, I am willing to try anything really.

 

[Rabbitboy]

Well I can recommend Dead Leaves it has loads of action, a plot and is extremely over the top.
It's directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi who latter went on to do Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagan and most recently Kill La Kill

There is also the movie Redline which is somewhat similar to Imaishi's work. Although the plot is extremely forgetable I think the visuals are enough to carry it.


Other stuf I recommend you check out

The melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I am a bit mixed on this series. The biggest problem was that I thought Haruhi was giant *****. And then they spend 8 episodes doing the exact same things with only minor variations. However I liked most of the characters and even Haruhi started to grow near the end of the series and by the half way point of the movie (which I really like a lot) she had actually grown on me.

Black lagoon. Great characters and good action. You aren't going to find a lot of women who are more badass than the ones in this show.

I am a quite tired right now so that is all I can think of at the moment

 

[Scarim Coral]

Let see-
Tiger and Bunny
Kill La Kill
Jojo's Bizzare Adventure
Gurren Lagann
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Afro Samurai
FL CL
Chaika: The Coffin Princess

 

[Spanglish Guy]

Controversial question, and not asking to start a flame war, but dubs or subs? because dubs narrows down the reconsiderations a bit.

I don't mind in particular but I do prefer subs over dubs

 

[LarsInCharge]

Controversial question, and not asking to start a flame war, but dubs or subs? because dubs narrows down the reconsiderations a bit.

Whatever language you see it in first will likely shape your view of dubs or subs.

An easy rule: If Ocean Studios or DelMar did the VAs (you can tell by the amount of Michelle Ruff and Johnny Yong Bosch on the former and Crispin Freeman and Kari Wahlgren on the latter), it's gonna be a good dub. If not, move at your own risk.

Rule 2: If 4kids did it, stay as far away as humanly possible.

 

[Pinkamena]

As mentioned above, REDLINE is my favorite anime movie to date.

If you want a series, I recommend Samurai Champloo for its comedy, very little fanservice and great soundtrack. If you want something a bit more silly and IN SPAAAACE, Space Dandy is nice. Lastly, I recently watched Steins Gate which I found to be a nice mix of science fiction, comedy and feels.

Spoiler: Trailers for the three shows

Best I could find for Samurai Champloo.

SPACE DANDY, BABY

Steins Gate

 

[Pinkamena]

And, uh, guess you should know about Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt as well. It's... special. And I will never forget it.

 

[Spanglish Guy]

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll be sure to check as many as I can out. I have already started with Kill la Kill couple days ago and I have really been enjoying it. Looking forward to watch some other stuff.

 

[Uriel_Hayabusa]

If you're looking for stuff that mixes action with plot, I'd recommend:

Baccano!
Cowboy Bebop
Darker than Black
Fate/Zero
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Samurai Champloo
Sword of the Stranger (movie)

 

[V4Viewtiful]

Wolf's Rain (not a lot of action but it's a pretty deep story)
Trigun
GunGrave
Moribito
Darker Than Black (most wouldn't recommend season 2 but I say watch it for that wicked intro fight )
Gantz
Ninja Scroll
Outlaw Star
Death Frenzy

 

[afrojason]

darker than black
black cat
chrome shelled regios
cowboy bepop
heroic age
project arms
yu yu hakusho
full metal alchemist brotherhood
deadman wonderland

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Controversial question, and not asking to start a flame war, but dubs or subs? because dubs narrows down the reconsiderations a bit.

Whatever language you see it in first will likely shape your view of dubs or subs.

An easy rule: If Ocean Studios or DelMar did the VAs (you can tell by the amount of Michelle Ruff and Johnny Yong Bosch on the former and Crispin Freeman and Kari Wahlgren on the latter), it's gonna be a good dub. If not, move at your own risk.

Rule 2: If 4kids did it, stay as far away as humanly possible.

Michelle Ruff and JYB are Bang Zoom, not Ocean. Ocean has Tabitha St. Germain, Brad Swaile, Richard Ian Cox, and most the voice cast of MLP:FIM.

And you don't have to worry about 4kids unless you plan on watching old episodes of Pokemon or Yugioh, They're pretty much dead now, or at the very least haven't been heard from in a long time. Also, dubs were the way they were back then because the Japanese studios couldn't overlook the dubbing process, so American companies were able to get away with a lot. Nowadays Japanese producers supervise the dubs to make sure it's done right.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Probably not so good for a kind of gateway anime but No Game No Life will forever be a favourite of mine. It was the best anime by far last season.

Basically a pair of siblings who have never been beaten at any game get dropped into a world presided over by the God of Play, where everything is decided by games, including positions of power, national borders and so on. It's a really funny anime with loads of great moments and the artstyle cannot be described by words adequately, to say it's vibrant and colourful does not do it justice.

Every frame should inspire this

I'll add the old hats of Code Geass and Death Note for legit gateway anime since you're new, Code Geass is still up there in my top ten in fact, it's about a guy raising an army from nothing against an evil dictatorship with the power to make anyone obey his command through direct eye contact (actually a really limited power surprisingly) and a copious helping of mechas. They try a dual protagonist like Death Note did but honestly I grew to despise Suzaku after roundabout Episode 5/6, whenever he declines to join up with Zero and in my opinion, the second protagonist quickly becomes just another obstacle in the road for Lelouch and all sympathy towards him is lost. This may have been intentional but i'm unsure.

Another thing is the total ham in the voice acting in both the English and Japanese dubs is so much fun... JYB is so good at the whole anti-hero thing, he can carry the English dub on his own even if you disliked every other voice. Thankfully he doesn't need to cuz it's one of the better dubs out there but he really could.

"Now this new power, it's mine... Well then."

 

[Gatx]

Zankyou no Terror/Resonance of Terror is an amazing show, probably the best this season. It's a smart/clever show like Death Note, Mirai Nikki, Code Geass etc. that's centered around smart people one upping one another but it's tone is a bit more subtle and realistic. It's got a great pedigree too, with the director and composer from Cowboy Bebop and the character designer from Samurai Champloo.

 

[Michael Tabbut]

Cowboy Bebop
Space Dandy
Outlaw Star
Black Lagoon
Hellsing Ultimate
Baccano
Fate/Zero
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
etc.

There are a lot but I do have three in particular that I strongly suggest you don't watch:

Rosario+Vampire for being a very poor adaptation of one of my favorite manga. It takes an interesting, if blatant fan service story that turned into a solid action story about halfway through. Instead the anime stays as a fanservice harem comedy that has been referred to as "Panty Shots: The Anime!"

Neon Genesis Evangelion. As Bennett White calls it "The final boss of anime," the series is either genius or pretentious garbage. I enjoy the series but I can't recommend it in good conscious to a person getting into the hobby.

Fate/Stay Night: The show itself is good for a first viewing but if you watch its prequel Fate/Zero, it's actually rather mediocre.

 

[SGT_Noobnuts]

My recommendations

Cowboy Bebop: Do you really need me to explain this already?

Madoka Magica: The cutest Faustian tragedy ever made.

Fullmetal Alchemist/FMA: Brotherhood: Fantastic top of the line sci-fi stories in their own right.

Berserk: Amazing story and characters, borderline horrifying animation, the epitome of a flawed gem.

Comedy

Azumanga Daioh: The best "nothing of note happens in this show at any point in a high school setting" anime comedy ever!

Midori Days: Being tongue in cheek and hilarious is one thing but the absurd premise alone is reason enough to watch it.,,,

Ouran High School Host Club: Goes over all the reverse harem "dream boy" stories with their fangs and their kisses.

Space Dandy: A Dandy guy in space with all kinds of surreal and fantastic stories that you should check out!

 

[Rabbitboy]

Now that I have rested (I mean slept for 11 hours) for a bit I can safely try to remember more anime without my head hurting.

I can really recommend Noragami. It's about Yato a god who has no followers and no shrine and survives by doing odd jobs here and there. He meets Hioryi a girl who is between a state of live and death. She is actually perfectly fine it just means that her spirit sometimes leaves her body, usually at the most inconvenient moment. It's a great show it does have action scenes but it's mostly focused on the characters. It is however to short with only twelve episodes. And a lot of questions about the past are left unanswered. They do get answered in the manga which is worth reading. Also if you don't lik Kofuku you officially have no soul.

Also soul eater. Great action and characters whit a unique art style. One of my personal favorites and I love the english dub. So watch or I will steal your soul!

I also liked Naruto *dodges rotten fruit* now I haven't watched it's sequel series Shippuden but I liked the original series. Altough I did skip the filler which I recommend you to do as well.

 

[Ragnoon]

I have recently been introduced to anime so they shows I would recommend are,

Cowboy Bebop

Full Metal Alchemist/Brotherhood

Black Lagoon

Soul Eater

Trigun

Ghost in the Shell

all of which do have english dubs if you are so way inclined. Anyone recommend some similar shows like these?.

 

[Mr.Savage]

Black Lagoon & Cowboy Bebop have already been recommended, which are usually my go-to standbys.

The only other one I could recommend would be Spice & Wolf, which in my opinion is criminally overlooked.

S&W starts out a bit slow, and is more contemplative than action-y, but when the action does ramp up, it's quite intense.
It also was graced with one of the finest English dubs ever put to anime, along with a fitting soundtrack, and very nice artwork.

I'd highly recommend giving it a full viewing.

The first episode can be found here, for your convenience.


Some other honorable mentions would be the movie Steamboy {which has Patrick Stewart in it), along with the Last Exile series, though I'd avoid the English dub on that one.

Trailers for both, if intrigued:

Spoiler

 

[Madame_Lawliet]

Looks like I got ninja'd on most of the big dogs, I'll have to come up with some more creative choices...

Michiko and Hatchin
Fantastic series, even though it's very very western-centric in terms of writing and presentation (I'd go as far as to call it Taranteno-esque). It's got a really cool visual style it's dark as hell but has plenty of genuinely funny moments, and it's by most of the same people who made Cowboy muthahfuckin Bebop so that's gotta count for something.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
I'm specifically referring to the newest ongoing adaptation of Jojo's which started in 2012, but I also like the OVA from '98, it's pretty good too in it's own right. But Jojo's 2012 is pretty much the closest thing to a perfect adaptation of the manga you could ask for, it retains all the delightfully over the top characters, stories, and dialog that characterize Jojo's, and make for a very addicting and entertaining series. It's never been a better time to start either because the new season (titles "Stardust Crusaders" after the title of the manga arc it's an adaptation of) is still only about halfway through, and it's often considered the high point of the entire series!

Princess Jellyfish
This one struck a more... personal chord with me, it's a more acquired taste then the others I've mentioned and it's not for everyone, but if you're in the right state of mind this show has the perfect mix of clever writing that manages to be both very funny and very serious (sometimes at the same time), ingenious art direction and character design, and it all just amounts to a very enjoyable show overall.
Also, Kuranosuke is the model of who I aspire to be as a person, just sayin'.

Watamote
Again, kind of an aquired taste, but if you had a highschool experience that was anything like Tomoko's (EG: being the introverted, socially incapable, recluse who'd rather being gaming or watching anime then doing... anything else; Read: Me) then you are going to LOVE this show. If you didn't... then this might come off as the single most mean spirited thing you've ever watched, it's that subjective. I've known people who consider this the best anime ever made, and I've known people who were terrified and disturbed deeply by it.
All I can say is give it a watch, you'll just have to see what you think.

Oh and it's been said but...
Panty and Stocking, Panty and Stocking, Panty and Stocking, PANTY AND STOCKING!!!
It's my favorite anime and I hope it becomes one of yours too!