Serious Animes

[Sulacu]

The friend who got me into Claymore claims the manga is about four times as long as the series now, so I can see how the anime's ending might be disappointing. I'm only halfway through myself.

The Claymore manga is serialized monthly. Anime based on monthly serializations have a large chance to go 'off the rails' as you might say. It happened to the first Fullmetal Alchemist, it happened to Soul Eater, it happened to Claymore, just to name a few. As for Claymore, it's actually a damned shame. If they had waited just a year or so longer to make it, they could have left off the series at the end of that particular arc. But instead, as it stands, the last few episodes of the anime suddenly veer way away from the story at a breakneck pace to create a quick resolution, nipping potential sequels in the bud.

Berserk is the same in many ways. It is a low-budget, but still fantastic anime based on a fantastic manga. Like Claymore, it too covers only the first part of a much longer running series, but unlike Claymore, it maintains its connection to the manga's plot right till the end, which creates a very jarring and extremely mind blowing cliffhanger, you might say. Still, it leaves potential for a sequel hook should they ever consider reprising the series. One can only hope. By the way, Berserk too is a great 'serious' anime.

I would recommend Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood for this thread as well. It's not above occasional goofiness but on the whole the story is solid, rigorously faithful to the manga, and very serious.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Huh... Higashi no Eden... that was an interesting one...

 

[MLChanges]

*snip*....*snip*


Honestly I hate children/highschoolers and just the idea of a bunch of them being in the show really kills it for me.

This is about where I'm at. I'd love to see some more stuff like Black Lagoon op Bebop. I just know I'm tired of magical schoolgirls.

 

[dantnero]

So I just finished watching Cowboy Bebop my first trek into the anime genre and I loved it. I then went looking for anime shows supposedly similar to Bebop.

I watched the first episode of Trigun and was disgusted, it was basically everything I don't want it an anime. Bad/childish voice acting, weird anime faces, and a bunch of little kids/girls running around with guns.

Are there any serious animes out there that are similar to Cowboy Bebop?

Stick with Trigun. It gets serious and becomes really dark half way through. And the voice acting is fine. Not as good as CB but still decent. Cowboy bebop has "weird anime faces & and a bunch of little kids/girls running around with guns" in it also, so that point is irrelevant. If you like CB they you should like Trigun just give it a chance man. It's considered a classic for a reason.

Honestly I hate children/highschoolers and just the idea of a bunch of them being in the show really kills it for me.

Samurai champloo's opening was all I needed to see before nexting it. I'm just too old for the whole hip-hop garbage.

Dude you are only 22. You are not old. It wasn't long ago that you was in high school yourself. And about Samurai Champloo, it's sad that you would not even watch a show because of it's opening. How closed minded of you. And "I'm just too old for the whole hip-hop garbage" Since when was hip hop for kids? Also Samurai Champloo is created by they same people that created Cowboy bebop atleast give it a try.

As far as my reconmendations give these a try. No order
1.Death Note.
2.Cowboy Bebop The movie(If you haven't watched it already)
3.Samurai X
4.Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 war in the pocket
5.Blue Gender
6.Witch Hunter Robin
7.Ergo Proxy
8.Ghost in the Shell
9.Mobile Suit Gundam 08th MS Team
10.Outlaw Star
11.Kikaider The Animation (Don't let the art style fool you it's a really serious,dark and kinda sad show. It's reminiscent of the 70's anime art style but its a 2001 show. And make sure you watch the anime not the live action or the ova if you like the anime then watch the ova but the live action show sucks.)
12.The Big O
13.Gundam Unicorn
14.Wolf's Reign (Created by SOME of the people that created Cowboy Bebop.(written by Cowboy bebop's writer Keiko Nobumoto but not directed by Cowboy bebops director Shinichirō Watanabe) I didn't like but you might.)
15.The original 2004 Fullmetal Alchemist anime( Not Brotherhood since it more comedic)
16.Yu Yu hakusho (if you don't have a problem with long running shonen anime shows.)

I feel like I'm missing something but oh well.

 

[Macgyvercas]

I hate to be "that guy" but the plural of anime is anime.

OT: If by serious you "fucked up to the point of being disturbing" Neon Genesis Evangelion (particularly End of Evangelion) should suffice.

 

[Nerdstar]

try Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, it takes place in an alternate history in Japan during the 1950s where Germany has conquered Japan. Kazuki Fuse, a member of the Panzer Cops with the rank of Corporal, is sentenced for not following an order to kill a suicide bomber. Along the way, he meets Kei, a girl who initially claims to be the suicide bomber's sister and they develop a relationship.

its an aweome movie about 102 mints long and a seruirs cat and mouse game between the terrrorists and the wolf brigade and its done by Production I.G the same guys who did ghost in the shell.

 

[Stephen Wo]

Go for the movies!

Yes, definitely the movies. "Tekkon Kinkreet" is a fantastic look at the street-urchins of slummy cities, but with an air of fantastical realism.
Akira too, of course.

 

[albinokid66]

I'm going to be different and say the anime of Count of Monte Cristo. I have read the Dumas novel, seen the TV and 2002 film adaptations and the Anime stands above all, It's astonishingly good...

 

[emeraldrafael]

Speed grapher was a pretty sreious but fun anime.

hell girl is too, later in the seasons.

 

[spartan231490]

So I just finished watching Cowboy Bebop my first trek into the anime genre and I loved it. I then went looking for anime shows supposedly similar to Bebop.

I watched the first episode of Trigun and was disgusted, it was basically everything I don't want it an anime. Bad/childish voice acting, weird anime faces, and a bunch of little kids/girls running around with guns.

Are there any serious animes out there that are similar to Cowboy Bebop?

I disagree with the fact that Bebop is a "serious anime," If you're looking for something that's serious, I'm not usually into those types of anime, but two that I liked that I thought were very serious was Code Geass, and FMA. The seriousness takes prolly 15-20 eps in both situations to really stand out, but they aren't real childish or anything up to that point.

 

[The_Evermind]

Since you are looking for something in kind of the same vein Ghost in the Shell is pretty good, Spice and Wolf is really really good but very different from beebop, FLCL is one of my favorites just because of how fun it is to watch it is a 6 episode show about a kid who has giant robots come out of his head. Code Geass can be a little overdramatic nd childish at times but for the most part is good (although I hated the last couple of episodes) so I would recommend that. Elfen leid is "mature" in that it has gore and nudity but handles it in such an immature way that I wouldn't recommend it to someone new to anime. Eva is . . . out there, I mean it is just not my cup of tea and tends to be on that you either love or hate. Baccano is a lot of fun and a good watch. Full metal panic alright and handles giant robots better than a lot of shows in my opinion although if you don't want something childish steer away from Full metal panic Fumoffou, which is the comedic spin off. I am in the midst of watching planetES right now and it is pretty good and holds a better respect for science than almost any other show.

 

[Navvan]

Kite(yes its a little girl with a gun, but it's serious i swear)

Kite is a 'H', not an anime, please refrain from calling it such.

ANN beg to differ [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/kite].

...at least on the censored version, which is probably the most common here.

And - regardless of whether it fit the terminology - it's undoubtedly a serious piece of animation anyway, and hence might well fit the bill for what the OP was looking for. Probably should've mentioned that some versions of it contain AO-material though, but by now that should be exceedingly clear to everyone.

OT: Monster is an excellent offering, although being a noir thriller set in pre-unified Germany I doubt it's too similar in nature to Cowboy Bebop. Possibly also Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo too, although the peculiar art style and extreme change of setting from the book might be dissuading for many.

I second Monster. No where near the same in terms of setting/plot/theme as Cowboy Bebop but it is indeed serious and very good. Personally my favorite anime.

Xam'd The Lost Memories, Black Lagoon, Serial Experiments Lain, Mushishi, and Haibane Renmei are additional ones that I would recommend that come to mind. All take themselves seriously for the most part and are very well made. Xam'd is likely the most similar to Cowboy-Bebop but it is a steam-punk fantasy rather than sci-fi. It does deal with a group of people traveling on the same ship with a variety of backgrounds/ambitions with a unifying objective. Its better than Cowboy Bebop in my opinion.

I put Xam'd in bold because it really is an anime I hear very little about (even less so than Monster) that is one of the best I've ever watched.

 

[Aurora Firestorm]

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex. Tremendously good. Not a hint of slapstick or silly.

For movies, anything Miyazaki -- although if you want gritty serious, you'll want to drift more towards Princess Mononoke, maybe Spirited Away (although it's about a kid), basically stuff that isn't Totoro and Kiki.

If you're okay with having some comedy in it also, Fullmetal Alchemist (either one) is really intense and serious business much of the time.

Death Note, although someone already mentioned it.

 

[Marik2]

So I just finished watching Cowboy Bebop my first trek into the anime genre and I loved it. I then went looking for anime shows supposedly similar to Bebop.

I watched the first episode of Trigun and was disgusted, it was basically everything I don't want it an anime. Bad/childish voice acting, weird anime faces, and a bunch of little kids/girls running around with guns.

Are there any serious animes out there that are similar to Cowboy Bebop?

Xamd, eureka 7, and shigofumi come to mind as being serious and not having that over exaggerated anime face

 

[Speedwagon]

Death Note, even in English dubbing, is great.

You're gonna want to start to move onto Japanese with English subs to avoid bad voice dubbing.

 

[DarkRyter]

It's been awhile, but I get to use my generic response again.

Every time on these threads, people will put the anime they especially enjoyed. I feel this is too personal. Too subjective.

So you know what? Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he can get his own damn fish so he never has to ask anyone for their fish.

http://psgels.blogsome.com/
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/ratings-anime.php
http://www.anime-planet.com

Yum. Fish.

 

[shadow_Fox81]

Check out Samurai Champloo. It's somewhat similar to the style of Bebop and not childish.

EDIT: And before you get turned off by the hip-hop theme of it: I abhor hip-hop and rap stuff, but the anime is done really well to the point that I actually like it.

Spoiler: Here's the opening credits video

theyre both Schinchiro Watanabe projects, so just look for his work.

if you like animated shorts with a lot of variety Genius Party is good or Memories.

but as for full length series Beck (about indie rock in japan, not as good as the comic), Gantz(it has childish moments and bad voice acting but is quite mature) and Planetes (this has little to no action and is about basically space junkers, it from studio sunrise which mad e bebop).

also afro samurai, animation style is unique zany and hevaily tarentino inspired with a killer hiphop soundtrack by the RZA. It also features ron pearlman and samuel l jackson and culminates in a very mature tale of vengeance in league with Kurosawa's work.

but animated features by far have most of the maturity, things like Akira, Vampire hunter D bloodlust, Ninja scroll and milenium actress are roughly the same vintage as Bebop.

also Grave of the fire flies, but you have to watch it in japenese(its studio ghibli but not miyazaki, Post Nagasaki/hiroshima japan;it dosn't pop up on anime threads often enough).

 

[Ouroboros0977]

Kino no Tabi, every episode deals with a morally gray area and has at least one life lesson and the fights are short and oft end in a single gunshot.

 

[AngelSephy]

I see no mention of Vampire Princess Miyu. It's a good, serious anime that fits into the supernatural horror genre. Tokyo Godfathers is another. Hellsing was also pretty good too. Appleseed, Golgo 13, Blue Submarine No. 6... Hmm. I'm actually having to wrack my brain here. I've seen so many I can't recount all of the good ones that were more serious off the top of my head.

 

[firelightning1]

I recommend Gungrave although the premise of episode 1 and then 18-24 is kind of... sill episodes 2-17 are pretty good as a stand alone mafia story. Also Code Geass but that has already been mentioned.

Also Chaos; Head is really crazy and serious, dealing with delusions and betrayals even if the overall plot has its head stuck in a bucket it is worth watching.

And if you want a really serious realistic anime I highly recommend Steins Gate, a really realistic look at how time travel would work and good characterization and the emotional impact of characters dying is very well done. But the main character is a little crazy at the beginning but he gets better around episode 4.