No Right Answer: Attack on Attack on Titan

[Kenjitsuka]

Hellsing Ultimate...

Oh wait, I am not suggesting anything, since the only one I want/know in English is NGE.
I just wanted to say; YES!!!! AoT is MASSIVELY mediocre overall, and just 100% awfull after an ep or 10...
The manga too, btw. I've read the Japanese version all the way to where it is right now.
And my only response is a big sigh!

Manga to check out that are still not finished atm:
Akame ga Kiru!,
Akame ga Kiru! Zero,
Historys Strongest Disciple Kenichi,
The Seven Deadly Sins
and of COURSE:
Claymore.

Some have anime as well, but I don't know those.

 

[Cousin_IT]

Since pretty much everyone is recommending (the same) action heavy anime, I'm going to go out on a limb & recommend Kids on the Slope [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_on_the_Slope] for something recent; or Genshiken [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genshiken]/Welcome to the NHK [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_the_N.H.K.] for something a little older. It's not all about kids saving the world while dealing with their emotional issues by stabbing/shooting people.

 

[adzman]

Gankutsuou: the Count of Monte Cristo, Ouran High School Host Club, MONSTER

What? All 3 of these are SLOW AS HELL. As much as I love MONSTER there's NO way I would suggest it if some one said FMA was too slow for their liking. And Gankutsuou is pure garbage.

As for my suggestions:
xxxHolic, Kino's Journey (aka Kino no Tabi), Ramen Fighter Miki (aka Muteki Kanban Musume)

They're episodic so you don't have to wait for something to happen. Though Kino's Journey tries very hard to be "artsy" so it may take some getting used to.

 

[thiosk]

Hi guys! I think a great anime that you guys should watch has got to be Sword Art Online. Its new, its fresh, contains ZERO FILLER (!), and is miraculously high in fiber so you'll have great bowel movements. You'll have the vid out next week!

heh heh heh heh heh heh heh

 

[DarklordKyo]

Well, there's Space Dandy. The episodic nature of the series makes it so there's always something happening each episode.

 

[MoltenSilver]

The best suggestion I can come up with to fulfill the 'story where something happens besides the last 5 minutes' is Puella Magi Madoka Magica; it was designed as an anime first and foremost so you get none of this filler/buy the creator time crap or sudden changes in tone. Specifically, they knew going in it would be 12 episodes, and that's it. (for the first arc at least, and while the ending was semi-open the 12 episodes absolutely form a complete story). And because the creators knew this going in, there is not ONE second of wasted space, you can see the excruciating planning that went into making the most of the time. Besides that, its just plain awesome: I will say unqualified Puella Magi Madoka Magica is my absolute favorite anime with Hellsing in a close second (Ultimate version, of course; The first anime suffered literally every problem mentioned in the episode).

Of course, the problem with recommending Puella Magi Madoka Magica is as soon as whoever you're recommending it to sees the art style you instantly need to go into "No really it's awesome it's not what it looks like I swear why are you looking at me like I'm crazy?" mode.

 

[Jadwick]

Top of the line localization?

Space★Dandy

You know, 'cuz basically they wrote both a japanese script and english one at the same time.

Also; I've only watched 4 animoos.

Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo
Space Dandy
Kill La Kill

I am not biased.

Well, there's Space Dandy. The episodic nature of the series makes it so there's always something happening each episode.

Ninjas.

 

[Ravariel]

Ghost in the Shell. The first movie (Innocence is weeeeeeeird) and both TV seasons. Absolutely fantastic.

Vision of Escaflowne. One season, almost no filler. In fact so much is going on that they have to spend one of the later episodes in what is basically a huge history/exposition dump. It sidesteps most of the really annoying anime tropes, including most of the ones you mention in the episode.

I hear you on Bebop, though. Not really a fan of the show. LOVE the music, though. Oddly enough all of these have music by the same person: Yoko Kanno.

If you want to be reduced to a blubbering mess: Clannad and Kanon.

I would stay away from things like Code Geass and Deathnote, both probably are a bit full of the tropes you don't like.

For a great, silly, funny and cute slice-of-life anime, I would suggest K-ON! (and it's second season with two !!'s).

 

[shirkbot]

Well since Cowboy Bebop is off the table, how about Samurai Champloo? I'm also a quite the fan of Berserk, though it's quite old and cuts off at a rather unfortunate spot, and I'll second the people who have mentioned Darker Than Black and/or Mushi-shi.

 

[deserteagleeye]

Yeah this discussion was just painful to watch. Just an atrocious amount of nit-picking over things I personally could easily forgive about the show. I didn't like how they boiled down the 3 slow-paced episodes to such disparaging paraphrases. I thought that period of time was a good calm-before-the-storm moment that also gave the supporting characters some much needed background.

I also cringed when they criticized the Colossal Titan's teeth as if they're supposed to match regular human anatomy, which they're not.

And there's nothing to be ashamed of if you didn't guess who was the female titan. Even if you thought it was obvious, they at least didn't make a big deal out of it. They just assumed the audience was on the same track and did the official reveal in the same scene where they also ambushed the female titan because everybody else in the show already knew it.

Honestly this just seems like an attempt to spark controversy by ranting over nits as if they were tantamount to the show as a whole.

 

[Elijah Newton]

Samurai Champaloo would get my vote for 'best' localization. I've watched it subbed and translated and it felt equally solid both ways.

Great Teacher Onizuka was fun, though part of why I like it is that it leans on a lot of archetypes which might not appeal to everyone*. The localization felt pretty good there, though.

The first series I ever watched was Rorouni Kenshin. Loved it subbed, was astonished how dumb it sounded when translated. Just my take on the matter.

Ghost in the Shell.

Ooh, good call - seconded.


* though I quietly suggest complaining about anime archetypes while watching an anime is a bit like reading a superhero comic and pissing on characters for wearing their underwear on the outside.

 

[Ruisu]

For a great, silly, funny and cute slice-of-life anime, I would suggest K-ON! (and it's second season with two !!'s).

If anyone actually feel like watching K-on because of a suggestion like this one, then I will recommend watching Lucky Star after.

Because Konata is awesome.

Then again, I have no idea how Lucky Star is localized. Or K-on for that matter.

 

[Marshall Jackson]

I got to add my two cents:
Serial Experiment Lain, its non stop cyberpunk philosophy-theology bullshit, which is exactly my wheelhouse
Ergo Proxy, probably my favourite animie only one season, there are a few non plot episodes but they're the best character episodes so they balance out. As for plot its basically a cyberpunk reverse-Frankenstein exploring the responsibilities of the created to their creator.
EDIT: forgot to say the English Ergo proxy is very good: competently performed and without any weird language artifacts (there are a few odd names but they are almost universally literary or mythological/ cultural references)

 

[Crazy Zaul]

Lately I think I have reached the point where I've watched enough anime that I get tempted to defend it, even though I still know most of it's bullshit. That localisation thing was an interesting explanation of why dialogue in some anime and JRPGs is just ridiculously basic and they repeat themselves so much. At least the upside of bullshit or filler episodes is that if you get half way through and realize its bullshit you only wasted 10 mins.

I didn't like Cowboy Beebop but Black Lagoon is good and I think still the most Western friendly anime I've seen. It gets a bit weird towards the end and don't bother with Roberta's blood trail cos its literally just following a trail with almost no action at all.

FMA as everyone will have already said. The original is much less anime-ish than Brotherhood and a better story and Brotherhood goes full on David Cage mode at the end.

Steins Gate is good, it does get REALLY slow in the middle but its only 13 episodes then done and pays of at the end. (although they are trying to milk the shit out the licence with movies and games even 3 years later) It also gives you a good set of terminology that makes talking about all other time travel TV shows much easier.(World lines, divergence numbers etc)

Code Geiss has mecha without most of the 'omega death quantum custard ray shield' bullshit, and with a supernatural element and a 3 big empires fighting over the world element which is an awesome combination. I have seen quite a lot of people complaining about fan service but I don't remember any, there is 1 char with reasonably big boobs but she never even takes her blazer off so I don't know what they are on about. Also some people say 'there's pizza hut ads everywhere'. There was a logo 1 or 2 times in 2nd season, that's it.

Also Death Note, Claymore and Hellsing Ultimate.

 

[rasputin0009]

The first arc of Deathnote is really good. Sure, it's slow, but it lacks almost all the annoying bullshit that 95% of all other anime has. I stopped watching after the first arc because they were going off on some boring tangents.

The first arc of Sword Art Online is also good if you can ignore half of the mushy-gushy bullshit going on between the protagonist and EVERY girl he meets. Then, you can skip 2 or 3 episodes when the main characters decide to go play house before the final showdown. K, I don't know why I like the show. It's pretty stupid.

 

[MegatronScythe]

Just some suggestions...

Ninja Scroll
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo
Samurai Champloo
Hellsing
Labyrinth of Flames
Princess Mononoke

In my personal opinion these are the best localized anime that I've seen (and can currently recall). Ninja Scroll and Samurai Champloo are even better in English then in Japanese. Labyrinth of Flames is hilarious and the main character is voiced by a familiar voice actor from Pokemon. Gankutsuo is quite faithful to The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas and offers variations not found in other anime such as human characters from the book now being aliens, foreign languages (particularly French), and stunning visuals due to the series taking place in a future space environment. If you enjoy the book you will enjoy the anime. Hellsing is action packed, good voice acting, and well paced due to it being a shorter series compared to the more 24-26 episode norm. Last but not least the two Ghost in the Shell movies are just of such high quality that they didn't take any chances with the voice acting, same goes for Princess Mononoke.

Hope one of these resonates with you Dan, but I certainly understand everyone has different tastes.

 

[MaraJade03]

Baccano!

Let me sell it to you Dan.

1. It is short, that a lot stuff happens in less episodes so no wasted time.

2. It comes from a light novel instead of a manga, this means it is story focused and better writen.

3. It is well localized, it is steeped in 1930's Americana in the light novel and anime so when it was localized there was not a lot of weird Japanese stuff and the localizers took advantage of that.

4. It is not about High schoolers, I think that explains it's self.

5. The voice acting in the dub is good, I am assuming you want a dub.

6. It has an ending, too many anime don't have this and it can be annoying.

7. The animation is well done.

I was going to say Baccano! as well. This post beat me to it, but they hit all the key points perfectly. so Yea Give Baccano! a try.

 

[DTWolfwood]

Best localized Anime... Samurai Pizza Cats.

Wasn't thinking this until i saw the comment and yes i would have to agree.

Its localization done the same way as MXC to Takeshi's Castle. Pure genius! XD

 

[Rowan93]

Sword Art Online is good.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHA! AHA! Heh.

Okay, sorry, that was mean - it has cool fights and a powerful protagonist, plenty of people have legitimate reason to like that. But I'd rather we not inflict it on people new to anime, because tentacles, incest, Marty Stu, Rapey McRaepfaec, two years' worth flowing endlessly, &c &c.

DO NOT WATCH ENDLESS EIGHT!

If you don't watch Endless Eight all the way through, you're not a real anime fan. It's a rite of passage. And of course it lays emotional groundwork for Disappearance, although in theory you could do that just by watching the first one and last two - if you were a filthy casual.

 

[leberkaese]

I felt the same way about this one. First half of the first season is awesome. On the second half it gets obvious "okay, this is gonna drag on..."