Serious Animes
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Seriously, not diss anyone who likes Evangelion or Elfen Lied, but these animes are practically nothing like Cowboy Bebop. I think its best that we suggest shows that are close to Bebop's east meets west style.
Anyway OP, I suggest sticking through TriGun, the first episodes are the weakest, and are far less dramatic than the second half of the show.
However I would've suggested before Tri-gun, you try Samurai Champloo, it has the same style as Bebop, its a east meets west blend, generally same voice cast as Bebop (english that being), and the same hi-quality animation from the Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe
The next would be Baccano!, which despite its stlyistic setting in 1920's chicago, has some magical elements, if you can get past that aspect of the show, you will enjoy it. (Despite the light hearted opening, it is a deadly serious show, pretty short too at only 13 episodes)
Finally there would be a classic giant mech anime, known as BIG O. Unlike any othe mech anime, it has a heavy film noir style, very similar to Bebop, and was clearly inspired by the dark noirish styling of Batman:The Animated Series. Its a pretty damn good show, and I think adult swim still shows it uncensored on Saturday nights
Anyway OP, I suggest sticking through TriGun, the first episodes are the weakest, and are far less dramatic than the second half of the show.
However I would've suggested before Tri-gun, you try Samurai Champloo, it has the same style as Bebop, its a east meets west blend, generally same voice cast as Bebop (english that being), and the same hi-quality animation from the Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe
The next would be Baccano!, which despite its stlyistic setting in 1920's chicago, has some magical elements, if you can get past that aspect of the show, you will enjoy it. (Despite the light hearted opening, it is a deadly serious show, pretty short too at only 13 episodes)
Finally there would be a classic giant mech anime, known as BIG O. Unlike any othe mech anime, it has a heavy film noir style, very similar to Bebop, and was clearly inspired by the dark noirish styling of Batman:The Animated Series. Its a pretty damn good show, and I think adult swim still shows it uncensored on Saturday nights
It's kind of hard to determine what kind of watcher you are just from the fact you enjoyed Cowboy Bebop, so I'll leave a list of anime with an action focus and no school kids for you to look into if you're interested.
Baccano!
Berserk (medium gore warning, minimal nudity, no conclusion)
Black Lagoon
Blood+ (theoretically does contain school kids,but that fact isn't important)
Claymore (has some silly shounen action anime tropes particularly at the end, medium gore,
no conclusion)
Coyote Ragtime Show (Involves space pirates but much less awesome than CB)
Darker than Black
Elfen Lied (Extreme gore warning, gratuitous nudity, generally unpleasant)
Read or Die (Has a great DVD season and a subpar TV run that are mostly unrelated)
Samurai 7
Samurai Champloo (same studio as CB)
Tiger and Bunny (Japanese take on Western superheroes; finishes airing next week)
And don't forget that action isn't all, or even necessarily the best, of what anime has to offer!
Baccano!
Berserk (medium gore warning, minimal nudity, no conclusion)
Black Lagoon
Blood+ (theoretically does contain school kids,but that fact isn't important)
Claymore (has some silly shounen action anime tropes particularly at the end, medium gore,
no conclusion)
Coyote Ragtime Show (Involves space pirates but much less awesome than CB)
Darker than Black
Elfen Lied (Extreme gore warning, gratuitous nudity, generally unpleasant)
Read or Die (Has a great DVD season and a subpar TV run that are mostly unrelated)
Samurai 7
Samurai Champloo (same studio as CB)
Tiger and Bunny (Japanese take on Western superheroes; finishes airing next week)
And don't forget that action isn't all, or even necessarily the best, of what anime has to offer!
If you want to see one with realistic characterization and a really intriguing plot, do yourself a favor and watch Eden of the East.
I get what you mean about Trigun, but trust me, you MUST finish it. The show starts out with very poor production values and lousy/unfunny humor. But it gets miles better. Everything about that show scales up as you watch it more. 9 episodes in is where it truly starts. I highly recommend giving it a chance. Before you do that, watch the brand new movie that just came out this year. It pretty much sums up everything that makes trigun great, or most of it at least. As far as your initial request for serious shows (Cowboy Bebop is my favorite anime ever, so I'll make up a list based off of that.)godofallu said:
- Planetes (This show has hardly any action, and isn't as stylish, but is serious, and amazingly good.)
- Samurai X - Trust and Betrayal (The really good Ruroni Kenshin OVA. I never cared for Ruroni Kenshin and it's silly overly shonen style, but I LOVED this OVA. It is completely different than anything ever seen in the show.
-Samurai Champloo
- Welcome to The NHK! (Amazing show, only appeals to certain people though.)
- Eden of The East (The BEST english dub you will EVER hear. I'm not kidding. Excellent plot too.)
- Baccano! (VERY classy and serious. Well done dub cast too.)
- Durarara!! (first 5 episodes are about as boring as a sleeping pill. But it gets much MUCH better.)
Keep in mind, all of these shows get better as they go on, even Cowboy Bebop did. None of them usually are very gripping from the beginning (except for Eden of The East).
Macross Zero
Macross Plus
Gundam U.C's OVAs (08th MS Team, war in the pocket, Stardust memories)
Gundam Seed's OVA (stargazer - surprisingly better than the entirety of the actual seed show)
Turn A Gundam (definitely the better gundam, since it's not so much about pewpew-lazer-spam as it is about character development and politics in a pre-industrial age)
And no one mentioned Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It's A Song of Ice and Fire ... IN SPACE!
Others I have watched: Berserk (Watch it without reading the manga, Gats' backstory does well on its own), Claymore (Sure the ending is different from the manga, but again on its own it's great), Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Skip FMA, Brotherhood seems to have more cohesion in its storytelling since it's purely canon, sure it's more Good vs Evil this time around, but it's damn good), Black Lagoon ( 2 Seasons + mini-ova 5 Episodes ... great action scenes, great characters ) and my favorite being Monster (loved the characters, and story about the little monster who's always ready to devour us).
Macross Plus
Gundam U.C's OVAs (08th MS Team, war in the pocket, Stardust memories)
Gundam Seed's OVA (stargazer - surprisingly better than the entirety of the actual seed show)
Turn A Gundam (definitely the better gundam, since it's not so much about pewpew-lazer-spam as it is about character development and politics in a pre-industrial age)
And no one mentioned Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It's A Song of Ice and Fire ... IN SPACE!
Others I have watched: Berserk (Watch it without reading the manga, Gats' backstory does well on its own), Claymore (Sure the ending is different from the manga, but again on its own it's great), Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Skip FMA, Brotherhood seems to have more cohesion in its storytelling since it's purely canon, sure it's more Good vs Evil this time around, but it's damn good), Black Lagoon ( 2 Seasons + mini-ova 5 Episodes ... great action scenes, great characters ) and my favorite being Monster (loved the characters, and story about the little monster who's always ready to devour us).
kinos journey. looks lighthearted but very serious
jojos bizzare adventure, its sort of like castlevania the anime/manga(although the anime only covered the 3rd saga, you really dont need to know what happened in parts one and two but if you want to google and wikipedia are your friend) in the fact that a family bloodline fights a vampire who wants humanity to suffer. the dvds are hard to find but once again googles your friend
and believe it or not, season zero yugioh. barely even covers cards games, people are killed off and a lot of blood and horror. after you watch it, youll go "kids watch this?"
jojos bizzare adventure, its sort of like castlevania the anime/manga(although the anime only covered the 3rd saga, you really dont need to know what happened in parts one and two but if you want to google and wikipedia are your friend) in the fact that a family bloodline fights a vampire who wants humanity to suffer. the dvds are hard to find but once again googles your friend
and believe it or not, season zero yugioh. barely even covers cards games, people are killed off and a lot of blood and horror. after you watch it, youll go "kids watch this?"
I'm sure his reason for being emo is valid, considering the world around him apparently exists solely to drive him insane, but that doesn't mean it's forgivable. It's really just a matter of personal taste; I like characters who are good people who stand for something and don't give up on others. Superman is my second favorite hero because of this, even though most people think he's boring for it. What I don't like is stories full of irredeemable asshole characters that seem to serve no purpose other than tearing down the world around them, intentionally or not. They aren't edgy, they're just pricks.Dr. wonderful said:
Watch Hellsing. I think you'd like it.
I'm not going to explain it to try to convince you to watch it, I think it can do it's own convincing, just look it up.
I'm not going to explain it to try to convince you to watch it, I think it can do it's own convincing, just look it up.
Also, I'm going to counter some recommendations.
Last Exile starts well enough, but it really sucks at the end. It also has the WORST CG ever.
Evangelion? Sure, but do yourself a favor and just watch the rebuild. Evangelion 1.0 and 2.0
The show may be good but it is HIGHLY flawed, and drags on. Its also a total mind F in the end.
Death Note is great, but at the same time, drags on for an eternity. It's 37 episodes long and feels like it should be 15.
Akira? Great movie until the last 30 minutes. Then it turns into complete senseless garbage. Read the manga instead, it actually concludes it.
Outlaw Star? It's good, but it's probably not your show, because it's pretty goofy in many ways.
Black Lagoon I recommend, but it's not exactly filled with substance. The action is the same quality as Bebop though.
Code Geass is rather silly, but at the same time awesome. Recommended for sure, but it's not at all like Bebop, and at first I wasn't crazy about it.
Last Exile starts well enough, but it really sucks at the end. It also has the WORST CG ever.
Evangelion? Sure, but do yourself a favor and just watch the rebuild. Evangelion 1.0 and 2.0
The show may be good but it is HIGHLY flawed, and drags on. Its also a total mind F in the end.
Death Note is great, but at the same time, drags on for an eternity. It's 37 episodes long and feels like it should be 15.
Akira? Great movie until the last 30 minutes. Then it turns into complete senseless garbage. Read the manga instead, it actually concludes it.
Outlaw Star? It's good, but it's probably not your show, because it's pretty goofy in many ways.
Black Lagoon I recommend, but it's not exactly filled with substance. The action is the same quality as Bebop though.
Code Geass is rather silly, but at the same time awesome. Recommended for sure, but it's not at all like Bebop, and at first I wasn't crazy about it.
Gungrave is great. Good Characters, lot's of action, very good developement. It's not really funny though.
Berserk is one of my all time favorites. It's philosophically deep like Bebop, and all though it's almost unrelentingly dark it's very funny. Downsides are low production values and the ending is pretty upsetting.
Berserk is one of my all time favorites. It's philosophically deep like Bebop, and all though it's almost unrelentingly dark it's very funny. Downsides are low production values and the ending is pretty upsetting.
GunGrave is a fantastic series. The character development in this mafia style anime is one of the best. (video has spoilers but shows the meat of the show)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3NCAKQWjwY&feature=channel_video_title
Mushishi is not full of action but is so very interesting and not silly or childish at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcoZHk3M3io
Darker Than Black is one of my favorites as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRVj2e182-o&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3NCAKQWjwY&feature=channel_video_title
Mushishi is not full of action but is so very interesting and not silly or childish at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcoZHk3M3io
Darker Than Black is one of my favorites as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRVj2e182-o&feature=relmfu
Aprilgold said:
They do have some light humour from time to time, but it is a series that usually feature one or more murders each episode so it is kinda serious.
I do recommend watching this in any case.
Welcome to the NHK. That is an anime filled with dark humour and based loosely on the guy who made it. I am not sure of the genre of it
trigun is a great anime, it does have a pretty serious storyline underneath the lightheartedness. tho if you don't like the sort of comedy to him, then i guess its not your type,godofallu said:
Black Lagoon, definitely! Its a great anime, and seems pretty up your alley in that its played very straight/realistically(tho it takes a tiny bit of creativity to the fight scenes, tho not nearly as much as most animes)Irridium said:
Its very action-oriented. It can be very serious, has 3demensional characters, and doesn't play the hero card; in this show, there are NO heroes, everyone is a villian, or atleast neutral
Steins;Gate
Brilliant series that toes the line between comedy and seriousness very well, as well as an intriguing and capturing plot, it's one of my favorite, and it's worth a watch for anyone who likes anything that's good.
Chaos;Head
Made by the same people, it's got an... interesting plot. It's a mixup of romance and insanity, worth a watch if you don't mind the fact that it's got romance in it once in a while. And if you like an anime that constantly fucks with your head =D
Brilliant series that toes the line between comedy and seriousness very well, as well as an intriguing and capturing plot, it's one of my favorite, and it's worth a watch for anyone who likes anything that's good.
Chaos;Head
Made by the same people, it's got an... interesting plot. It's a mixup of romance and insanity, worth a watch if you don't mind the fact that it's got romance in it once in a while. And if you like an anime that constantly fucks with your head =D
Deathnote, Paranoia Agent, Gungrave are all amazing and with a more adult tone, serious tone than say something like bleach or fullmetal alchemist.
Xam'd and Last Exile have been mentioned so, I'll go off on a list of stuff I haven't seen, all of a more mature branch of anime:
-Break Blade (Watch this, everyone must watch this.)
-Karas
-Seirei no Moribito
-Grave of the Fireflies
-VOTOMs (its very old and hard to find, but does gritty mecha in the much more realistic portrayal than Gundam. You can, however, try the new VOTOMs OVAs that came out.)
-Gundam (Turn A, Z, ZZ, and to some degree Stardust Memories, 08th MS Team)
-Trigun (Trigun: Badlands Rumble, great movie.)
-Library Wars (Not bad, fantastical plot but fun story/characters,)
I'd need to look at my library for a better list, but that's not bad for now.
-Break Blade (Watch this, everyone must watch this.)
-Karas
-Seirei no Moribito
-Grave of the Fireflies
-VOTOMs (its very old and hard to find, but does gritty mecha in the much more realistic portrayal than Gundam. You can, however, try the new VOTOMs OVAs that came out.)
-Gundam (Turn A, Z, ZZ, and to some degree Stardust Memories, 08th MS Team)
-Trigun (Trigun: Badlands Rumble, great movie.)
-Library Wars (Not bad, fantastical plot but fun story/characters,)
I'd need to look at my library for a better list, but that's not bad for now.