General anime talk, recommend me a good one :)

[ahappycamper]

Okay so here I am, i've just finished watching death note and I need something else to entertain me during my down time during the revision period.
Well first to put forth my opinion on death note, it was awesome I finished watchin last night and had started on tuesday evening (37 episodes). I became less interested after

Spoiler

L died, made me very sad, seriously Light/ Kira is sooo evil

, anyway a criticism I can think of at this very moment is the annoying Misa (that's shounen for you though) and the ridiculous way in which L and N pull a theory out of their a** every episode.
Anyway yes, since I my xbox is not with me at the moment and my pc *here* (as oppose to at uni) has an integrated graphics card I need entertainment.
I'm looking for an anime that has a dark storyline, maybe gothic, lots of over the top stylised action, like some of the fights in naruto shippuden. So I may go with bleach, i've never watched it but I don't think it has the dark, opressive themes i'm looking for. I've watched the first few episodes of Full Metal Alchemist and will watch some more if someone can confirm for me that every episode will not be a character bitching about having lost a close friend/relative/loved one/dog/gold fish etc and the main characters dont waste their time cheering them up and convincing them "ooh (insert name here) I know it's hard but we lost someone too, but if we can pull together *sob* we can overcome our grief and find that lifes worth living!" that sort of thing makes me nauseous. Other than that Outlaw star was good, what I watched of Gundam (I watched it when there was some central male pilot who seemed stoic)was good, Akira was good, the fighting and training in DBZ was good but I don't really have the attention span to try out every anime that is in similar categories.
I will reply as the thread goes beacuase lord knows I rarely make any sense but basically recommend me a dark, mature martial arts centred anime. I will watch the most highly recommended anime.

Thanks people!

 

[BlueberryMUNCH]

I'm so sorry to sound like a total dick, but I really need to get this off my chest.
I'm actually sick of the 'recommend me a good anime' threads; there's literally one every single day. Sure, you have specific tastes but...uuugh man><;;.

I dunno, I just think these forums need an anime section.

Also, just to stay OT to some extent...the first series of Yu-Gi-Oh was genuinely the greatest thing ever;D

 

[Leemaster777]

Well, it may not be MATURE, but if you're looking for a good Martial Arts anime, you can't go wrong with Yu Yu Hakusho. It's an older anime, but it's probably my favorite fighting anime ever.

Also, while it doesn't really meet what you described, you should check out Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. It's a comedy, but it's... different, to say the least.

 

[Sacman]

I'm looking for an anime that has a dark storyline, maybe gothic, lots of over the top stylised action

I think what you're looking for is Ergo Proxy... It's dark and stylized but it isn't centered around pure fight scenes... I dunno if it will be that big of a problem...<.<

 

[ronald1840]

Ok well it seems you want an anime series that generally dark in tone, hmmm (no manga?).
Alright we'll let me be the first to say that Full Metal Alchemist:Brotherhood (the definite version) is by no means that dramatically emotional as it goes on. If you want arms and legs getting torn off, necks and shoulder veins being slit, and "Bad Wurdz" its got it all!

But if you don't like Full Metal for whatever reason then why not watch, Cowboy Bebop! A series where each episode is better than some whole series! At 26 episodes with hardly any filler (its not bad as Naruto filler, lol) the excitment and intrigue never stop until the closing finale!

See You Space Cowboy

 

[ahappycamper]

I'm actually sick of the 'recommend me a good anime' threads; there's literally one every single day.

I dunno, I just think these forums need an anime section.

the first series of Yu-Gi-Oh was genuinely the greatest thing ever;D

Fair enough, sorry for adding to those types of threads, I agree that the escapist needs more sections to accomodate for different media, as opposed to categorising everything other than games under a non-game banner. This seems short-sighted, maybe there is not enough traffic to warrrant more specific sections, but it seems when I have something other than games to discuss that I am throwing it into a jumbled up mess that no one will notice.
I watched Yu-gi-oh, when I was younger, definately don't agree that it was good, and I was really into yu-gi-oh cards at the time.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

Black Lagoon is pretty cool. It's an anime about pirates in the South China Sea, their lives, and the relationship of organized crime in the area. I'd suggest watching it in English. There's a lot of humor lost in the subtitles. It's one of the few animes where the dub is better, plus they're Americans anyway.

 

[Gigano]

Baccano! sounds much like what you're after, it's a dark storyline with impossibly stylish action. Don't let the first episode fool you though.

Berserk too is a very dark and brutal fantasy storyline with plenty of action pieces.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Watch it, now.

Also this one. Dark oppressive themes aplenty, it's a psychological horror mystery after all. Not much action though, and I really have to recommend this one on principle, so take that bias into account.

 

[loc978]

Well, I don't think you and I share the same tastes in anime, OP (though I did enjoy Death Note, it's not really a favorite)... I'll just throw a few favorites out there for ya anyway:

Cowboy Bebop: occasionally dark, mostly lighthearted and whimsically funny. Great show, but doesn't really meet your requirements.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: dark cyberpunk sci-fi with a bunch of politics and a large helping of philosophical pondering. Contains a small amount of cutesy comedy. Fits with what you claim to want, but it might be a little much for you.

Black Lagoon: darker, more chaotic, with more of a Nietzche-esque philosophical side. Also, tons of black comedy and a lot more over-the-top action.

 

[JannixPizzalordofdoom]

I'm looking for an anime that has a dark storyline, maybe gothic, lots of over the top stylised action

Why have noone suggested Hellsing yet? It's vampire slaying blood and gore to the end and specially more enjoying to watch if you hate Twillight!

But if you don't like Full Metal for whatever reason then why not watch, Cowboy Bebop! A series where each episode is better than some whole series! At 26 episodes with hardly any filler (its not bad as Naruto filler, lol) the excitment and intrigue never stop until the closing finale!

Ever noticed how anime episodes seems to either contain plot evolvement or character evolvement? Somehow they can't do the both in the same episode... And noticed how Cowboy Bebop only have character evolvement episodes? But I agree, Cowboy bebop is really good.

EDIT: And Soul Eater! It's kinda gothic... And its characters, action, plot and humor easily beat Naruto, though the series is only 50 episodes long.

 

[ahappycamper]

Well so far I've got cowboy bebop buffering in another tab, (curse these slow internets!) I'm also watching ergo proxy. Baccano! and Berserk are favorited for the time being and Oh my god I can't believe I forgot about Ghost in the Shell, will definately have to find that somewhere.

 

[GloatingSwine]

I'm looking for an anime that has a dark storyline, maybe gothic, lots of over the top stylised action

So you pretty much want Black Lagoon then.

 

[Crazy_Dude]

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

I guess you could count those transmutation circles as "gothic". But the Homunculus sure are bad ass.

Also the action scenes are great and the story overall is pretty good too you should totally check it out sometime.

 

[norwegian-guy]

AKIRA.
It may not be "gothic" but it's dark as &%¤ and unlike most anime. It's really good. (I know that I won't get any friends with that statement, I like anime and manga, but from the analytic standpoint most of it ain't that good, much of the favourites are actually pretty generic.)
Anyways AKIRA is dark, the characterdesigns are great, the story is great. It's just overall great.

 

[Dango]

Bokurano.

It's the darkest anime I've seen, while fortunately not having that "clearly made to appeal to emo teens" vibe to it (something I hate Death Note for). It has a fantastic story, deep, realistic characters, some excellent mecha fighting, and it's soul-crushingly depressing. I highly recommend it.

 

[TeeBs]

Is this hardcore enough for your tastes?

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

snip

High School of the Dead was really good, if you ignore the insane levels of fan service.

I didn't think the fanservice was as bad as some animes, though. I'd been trying to watch Gantz prior to that, and they do fanservice, and treat the female character as nothing more than a pair of boobs. HSOTD actually characterizes them and gives them decent stories and motivations.