Science Fiction Anime Recommendations

[MisterShine]

A lot of good suggestions, I'll throw in a couple that haven't been mentioned:

http://www.bakabt.com/148965-rahxephon-a-l.html
It's like Evangelion but less confusing and higher quality animation!

http://www.bakabt.com/143236-RD_Sennou_Chousashitsu_Real_Drive_Ureshii_Saizen.html
http://www.bakabt.com/140880-texhnolyze-kaa.html
These will fuck you up, but they're very interesting.

 

[Gigaguy64]

Vandread is a great Sci-Fi anime.
Its a Mecha series that Puts the characters first but has some great Mech Fights.
Its got some fanservice but it balances it out with the story really well.
Its one of my favorites.

If i think of any more ill post an Edit.

 

[snowman6251]

Neon Genesis Evangelion. My favorite anime by far.

The first half is a fairly standard mecha anime, but half way through it takes a different turn. It becomes more psychological and, in my opinion, it gets even better. Many people consider it Nightmare Fuel and quite fucked up, and just about everyone I know considers the very end to be an incredible mindfuck. Trust me, it does make sense, you just have to look into things a bit.

First, watch the full 26 episode anime, then the movie 'End of Evangelion' for the complete experience. There's another movie: Death and Rebirth, but that's just a recap movie.

If you find that you like the anime enough, or you just want to see what the anime would be like if the characters were a little happier throughout, watch the Rebuild movies. So far, there's 2 out. The first one follows the anime quite closely, but the second one deviates heavily.

I agree with this. Evangelion fucking owns. Also when was it, somewhere around episode 14 or 15 right? That's when the first "um wtf" moment occurs right? Then from that point on it just gets weirder and weirder and it started to violate my brain.

Evangelion was an experience if nothing else. Also the End of Evangelion only serves to take the last two episodes and make them even more of an "omg wtf".

I have one complaint about that show. Shinji. Could they have made up a more whiny little ***** of a protagonist? I mean I get that his bitchy nature makes sense for the plot but

Spoiler

During the End of Evangelion I was actually got out of my chair and started yelling at him, specifically when Asuka is fighting and he's not getting in the damn Eva. I was like "Asuka is HAULING ASS and you're in here being a little ***** because your suit has some fucking GOO ON IT!? God DAMN it Shinji everyone fucking risks their asses for you and you SUCK".

Suffice to say I really don't like Shinji. He bugs me.

 

[delet]

snip

I agree with this. Evangelion fucking owns. Also when was it, somewhere around episode 14 or 15 right? That's when the first "um wtf" moment occurs right? Then from that point on it just gets weirder and weirder and it started to violate my brain.

Evangelion was an experience if nothing else. Also the End of Evangelion only serves to take the last two episodes and make them even more of an "omg wtf".

I have one complaint about that show. Shinji. Could they have made up a more whiny little ***** of a protagonist? I mean I get that his bitchy nature makes sense for the plot but

Spoiler

During the End of Evangelion I was actually got out of my chair and started yelling at him, specifically when Asuka is fighting and he's not getting in the damn Eva. I was like "Asuka is HAULING ASS and you're in here being a little ***** because your suit has some fucking GOO ON IT!? God DAMN it Shinji everyone fucking risks their asses for you and you SUCK".

Suffice to say I really don't like Shinji. He bugs me.

I think it was episode 14... whichever episode had the recap episode for half of it; that's when the show took a sharp turn.

Spoiler: As for your hate of Shinji

Think about it; he's a very depressed kid as is and he just had to kill Kaworu, the one person who was ever told him 'I love you.' Shinji had to kill someone he loved and he hated himself for it. He felt that he should've died instead and he didn't want to go on living anymore. He was willing to let a soldier come and shoot him in the face instead of saving his own life, after all.

Throughout the whole series, I've always seen Shinji as, more or less, rightfully depressed. Sometimes he is a little too selfish, but he really doesn't know much else.

If you haven't already, I suggest watching the Rebuild movies. I love 'em, and all the characters are a lot happier; Shinji is a lot less depressed too.

 

[Dr. wonderful]

I can't get enough sci-fi, I love it! I also love anime, so when the two come together I am a happy man. Can you fellow Escapists recommend some good science fiction anime series or movies? I do not mind if it is subbed or dubbed. If it involves extra terrestrials, particularly in a war or invasion scenario, all the better but it can be about anything. The one thing I will say is that I am not looking for any Gundam series. Mechs are ok but please no Gundam.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Space operas are A-ok. Does not have to be hard science, but it is welcome.

Hahuri... is actually a pretty good show, just beware of the endless eight arc.


Huh...That's all I know.

I need to watch more ani- Wait, Full metal panic!

Yeah! Now I'm going eat some chocolate.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

Eureka Seven is a good one.

And I haven't watched it yet, but I from what I hear, Xam'd: Lost Memories is an okay one.

 

[Deofuta]

Outlaw Star
This is a quirky space series, one part drama, one part action, one part harem. No seriously, there are times where it feels like they're trying to go for the girl harem genre... but in more of a parody sort of way. It's a short series too, but it was a lot of fun and had some rad fight scenes.

I cant recommend this series enough. It just works in so many ways. What can be better than spaceships fighting with melee weaponry

Watching Macross plus right now, on the way to watching Macross 7. Can't wait

 

[snowman6251]

snip

I agree with this. Evangelion fucking owns. Also when was it, somewhere around episode 14 or 15 right? That's when the first "um wtf" moment occurs right? Then from that point on it just gets weirder and weirder and it started to violate my brain.

Evangelion was an experience if nothing else. Also the End of Evangelion only serves to take the last two episodes and make them even more of an "omg wtf".

I have one complaint about that show. Shinji. Could they have made up a more whiny little ***** of a protagonist? I mean I get that his bitchy nature makes sense for the plot but

Spoiler

During the End of Evangelion I was actually got out of my chair and started yelling at him, specifically when Asuka is fighting and he's not getting in the damn Eva. I was like "Asuka is HAULING ASS and you're in here being a little ***** because your suit has some fucking GOO ON IT!? God DAMN it Shinji everyone fucking risks their asses for you and you SUCK".

Suffice to say I really don't like Shinji. He bugs me.

I think it was episode 14... whichever episode had the recap episode for half of it; that's when the show took a sharp turn.

Spoiler: As for your hate of Shinji

Think about it; he's a very depressed kid as is and he just had to kill Kaworu, the one person who was ever told him 'I love you.' Shinji had to kill someone he loved and he hated himself for it. He felt that he should've died instead and he didn't want to go on living anymore. He was willing to let a soldier come and shoot him in the face instead of saving his own life, after all.

Throughout the whole series, I've always seen Shinji as, more or less, rightfully depressed. Sometimes he is a little too selfish, but he really doesn't know much else.

If you haven't already, I suggest watching the Rebuild movies. I love 'em, and all the characters are a lot happier; Shinji is a lot less depressed too.

Spoiler

I get that Shinji has to do some stuff he doesn't want to do but I just keep thinking to myself "oh suck it up". Even at the beginning of the show he was a little *****. How many times did he try to quit and run away because "waaaaah being a pilot is hard ". He always came across as a selfish immature brat. Misato is constantly giving him reassurance and pep talks too but he still keeps whining.

Also I still don't get this part. Why does he kill Asuka at the end of End of Evangelion? Honestly that movie had a lot of weird shit in it but this above all else completely eludes me. I can't figure it out. There is no rational for it in my mind. He rejects the, as me and my friends call it, primordial soup experience, breaks down the Mega Rei, and winds up all alone with Asuka, the only person he seems to be able to be in contact with, and then chokes her while she just tries to touch his cheek. Then he's like "I hate myself" or something like that. I don't get it. It makes no sense.

Also I do plan on watching the rebuilds its just a matter of getting around to it and finding quality uploads.

Also you know when Asuka speaks German? I don't know German but I've always wondered if her speaking German sounds as hilarious as when Japanese voice actors are forced to speak English.

Also I'm going to college in around a month where I will be taking Japanese. It makes me very glad to know that my Japanese will likely sound just as hilariously bad as most Japanese people speaking English.

 

[Julianking93]

Big O, Ghost in the Shell, Tenchi Muyo and Outlaw Star are my favorites.

And of course Cowboy Bebop.

 

[ThaBenMan]

There's this pretty cool movie I remember - Lensman [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088028/] - a space opera based on a series of books from the 30's. Pretty cool if you can find it.

 

[vapidaphid]

Bubblegum Crisis 2040. Awesome series, if you can find it.

 

[infinity_turtles]

Gantz. They hunt Aliens.
Outlaw Star. Other people have mentioned it.
Vandread. Men/Women consider Women/Men Alien species. And they're at war. More of a harem anime than a sci-fi one, but I think the concept is pretty amusing.
Kishin Corps: Alien Invasion during World War 2.
RahXephon: Never finished it and don't remember much, but the summary says there are aliens that invaded earth.
Space Battleship Yamato: Never seen it, but the summary says alien invasion.
Martian Successor Nadesico: Aliens from Jupiter attack Mars colony and blah blah blah.
Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor. Sci-Fi, no aliens, but there are mutants. I think. Never finished it, so there could be aliens for all I know.

 

[DarthFennec]

I like Ghost in the Shell. Of course I'm not really an expert on animes.

 

[Krotchstak]

Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. Six episodes long, easily the best thing to bear the Gundam name, and also one of the best animated war dramas in existence. Seriously, check this one out.

EDIT: I realize after posting that you asked for no Gundam, but I'm sticking by my recommendation. This isn't your average Gundam. This isn't some grand space opera about psychic teenagers screaming at each other between colourful clashes in their giant robots. This is a tale of friendship and childhood in wartime that is equal parts sobering and heartwarming. It takes place during the original, but you don't really have to know anything; the politics and backstory aren't complex. This is a tale that means nothing to the overall conflict of Mobile Suit Gundam, but everything to those involved in it.

 

[delet]

snip

I agree with this. Evangelion fucking owns. Also when was it, somewhere around episode 14 or 15 right? That's when the first "um wtf" moment occurs right? Then from that point on it just gets weirder and weirder and it started to violate my brain.

Evangelion was an experience if nothing else. Also the End of Evangelion only serves to take the last two episodes and make them even more of an "omg wtf".

I have one complaint about that show. Shinji. Could they have made up a more whiny little ***** of a protagonist? I mean I get that his bitchy nature makes sense for the plot but

Spoiler

During the End of Evangelion I was actually got out of my chair and started yelling at him, specifically when Asuka is fighting and he's not getting in the damn Eva. I was like "Asuka is HAULING ASS and you're in here being a little ***** because your suit has some fucking GOO ON IT!? God DAMN it Shinji everyone fucking risks their asses for you and you SUCK".

Suffice to say I really don't like Shinji. He bugs me.

I think it was episode 14... whichever episode had the recap episode for half of it; that's when the show took a sharp turn.

Spoiler: As for your hate of Shinji

Think about it; he's a very depressed kid as is and he just had to kill Kaworu, the one person who was ever told him 'I love you.' Shinji had to kill someone he loved and he hated himself for it. He felt that he should've died instead and he didn't want to go on living anymore. He was willing to let a soldier come and shoot him in the face instead of saving his own life, after all.

Throughout the whole series, I've always seen Shinji as, more or less, rightfully depressed. Sometimes he is a little too selfish, but he really doesn't know much else.

If you haven't already, I suggest watching the Rebuild movies. I love 'em, and all the characters are a lot happier; Shinji is a lot less depressed too.

Spoiler

I get that Shinji has to do some stuff he doesn't want to do but I just keep thinking to myself "oh suck it up". Even at the beginning of the show he was a little *****. How many times did he try to quit and run away because "waaaaah being a pilot is hard ". He always came across as a selfish immature brat. Misato is constantly giving him reassurance and pep talks too but he still keeps whining.

Also I still don't get this part. Why does he kill Asuka at the end of End of Evangelion? Honestly that movie had a lot of weird shit in it but this above all else completely eludes me. I can't figure it out. There is no rational for it in my mind. He rejects the, as me and my friends call it, primordial soup experience, breaks down the Mega Rei, and winds up all alone with Asuka, the only person he seems to be able to be in contact with, and then chokes her while she just tries to touch his cheek. Then he's like "I hate myself" or something like that. I don't get it. It makes no sense.

Also I do plan on watching the rebuilds its just a matter of getting around to it and finding quality uploads.

Also you know when Asuka speaks German? I don't know German but I've always wondered if her speaking German sounds as hilarious as when Japanese voice actors are forced to speak English.

Also I'm going to college in around a month where I will be taking Japanese. It makes me very glad to know that my Japanese will likely sound just as hilariously bad as most Japanese people speaking English.

Spoiler

Well, he is immature, and he's got major emotional issues. He can't see all that clearly the support he's got for a while and that's why he doesn't feel at home at Misato's and why he runs away.

The second time was because Gendo forced him to nearly kill Touji, which Shinji is both justified and not justified in with his actions. If Bardiel (The angel that infected Eva-04) had made it to Lilith, everyone would've died in Third Impact anyway, so Shinji should've killed the Eva without putting up a fight instead of feeling like he could've still been a good person. Because he was forced to attack Touji, Shinji then got angry at Gendo and ran away, but was later brought back because he realized he needed to do what he could because no one else could.

As for EoE, he didn't kill Asuka at the end; he just choked her for a while. She was basically comatose on that beach for a while and while Shinji was strangling her, she woke up and let him know she was alive by brushing his cheek. When Shinji let go of her, you could see her eye move to focus on Shinji where she said "I feel horrible"

From what I've gathered, the general consensus on what went on there is that Shinji had been waiting on that beach for so long waiting for someone to appear after he was told that if people wanted to, they could come back, and after all the time, finally Asuka came up on that beach and he was mad at her. It's all very confusing, but he definitly didn't kill her at the end.

I'm not sure how Asuka's German sounds compared to native German, but NGE is actually really good about using English. The few parts in the anime where they use English (Like when they're delivering Eva 04) had flawless English spoken which was amazing.

Also, in Rebuild 2.22, at the very beginning and about half way through there are parts where characters speak English and it is done really well... Well, except for Kaji. Kaji sucks at English.

 

[Yureina]

Ghost In the Shell is probably what you are looking for. Neon Genesis Evangelion could do as well, but that has your fancy mechs and stuff, though that is... far more complex than Gundam is, especially in the mindscrewing department.

 

[Krotchstak]

Y'know, I actually have to wonder...why no Gundam? I know I sounded rather derisive of its other entries in my recommendation a couple posts back(and, while what I said was perfectly true, it was largely to get you to watch 0080 because god DAMN any self-respecting anime fan needs to see that OVA), but why the hate? Some of them I understand. SEED and its sequel, 00, 0083, even Wing. But the original actually holds up rather well as what it's supposed to be. I'm curious as to what you saw that made you swear off the entire franchise.

 

[snowman6251]

-snip-

Spoiler

God there was just so much weird stuff in that movie. A nice chunk of it went over my head for things outside my control. The version I watched was REALLY bright and REALLY quiet even with my volume all the way up. As a result things like him jacking off to comatose Asuka at the beginning went completely unnoticed. I thought he just looked at her naked and got turned on and was like "I'm a douche" but apparently the internet says he actually pleasured himself. Also due to the volume there was a lot of dialogue I never even heard. There were subtitles with what might as well have been no speech. That last line was also kind of like that. Are you sure Asuka said that? I was so sure Shinji said that.

The way I saw that last scene was he and Asuka are the only people left but he's a stupid idiot and was raging at the world. He was pissed at Asuka too because she's always yelling at him and whatnot, as evidenced by that dream like sequence where they're in the kitchen and he gets all murderous with some coffee. So since its just him and her he starts choking her and she kind of looks at him and tries to touch his cheek as if to say "I'm sorry" or "Its all good" or something along those lines and then she dies and he realized he just killed his last friend on Earth and was like "Self hate".

And as weird as that scene is there is still even weirder shit in that movie. The sudden cuts to shots of live people walking around and sitting in a theater type room? It was weird.

Also my friend told me The End of Evangelion was episode 25 and 26 again, but showing everything as opposed to the thoughts of the people involved. That made sense to me for a while but at the end of the show I always thought he accepted the primordial soup existence. In the movie that is obviously not the case. I don't know. Shit got weird.

 

[Rogue 9]

Only one thing I can think of that hasn't been said already, which is the various Captain Harlock films and series. Smart space opera about a space pirate and his crew, who are the only ones brave enough to stand up to alien forces invading Earth.

Other than that, I'll echo the recommendations for Martian Successor Nadesico, The Ghost in the Shell movies and series, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Cowboy Bebop and the Appleseed films.

Oh actually, one other film. Vexille, by the same studio that produced the two recent Appleseed films is pretty excellent too, about a special forces team sent to try and infiltrate Japan, which has cut itself off from the world for a number of years.