Show me a good anime please

[K1CKER]

Hey there anime lovers!

Me, I`ve always hated all kinds of anime series BUT I`ve watched Avatar the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra lately and I have to say they are really good.

So maybe someone can point me to another series that has the same strengths:
- no overly effeminate male characters. (I mean it)
- no big eyed female characters that sound like a squealing mouse and are either helpless tits or exaggerated bad-ass tits on-a-stick.
- reasonably believable world.
- no super exaggerated overpowered characters, all the special powers they have are reasonable.
- good amount of action.
- serious world changing story while also being funny.
- "not too Japanese" visual style

Thanks, and looking forward to finding another series as good as Avatar.

 

[DarkRyter]

Avatar is not anime. It has a long running storyline like alot of anime. It looks like alot of anime. It has Asian themes like alot of anime. It looks like alot of anime. But that does not make it anime.

Not that it means anything. It is not any worse or better for not being anime.

From what you identify as "the strengths" of Avatar, I can tell that you hold some very popular cultural notions as to what most anime is like.

One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach.

You should try One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach. I know, I know. Anime Haters would roll their eyes and advanced anime fans are going "entry level, what."

But I've read and watched all three, and they abide by your list about as well as any anime I can think of. Except for the "no overly effeminate male characters" rule, considering each of these series has extremely large casts of widely different characters.

You could also try like Soul Eater and Fairy Tail. Not quite the big three, but they're all barking up the the same tree.

Edit: Oh. and Fullmetal Alchemist. how could i forget that.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I'm going to throw Hyouka at you because it's new and fucking awesome. No sexy times for you to rage at either XD

I suppose you might not like the art style (eventhoughit'stotallyepic) what counts as "too Japanese" is so incredibly subjective I won't bother trying to justify it.


It's a mystery high school drama thing that I can't describe without selling it really damn short. Just check it out and if the first few episodes don't appeal to you then leave it.

Oh actually Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) might fit all of your criteria. I must warn you that it contains dangerous levels of awesomeness and crazy shenanigans. It is also a mystery thing but darker and more mysterious....

Basically 12 (13?) people get phones that predict the future in various different ways and with different constraints and rules and they must hunt each other down and kill each other for the last man standing to become the new God of Time and Space.

Dafaq?

Oh Oh! and Another which is also a high school mystery.... Thing. But with hilarious/disturbing death sequences (I am never going to touch an umbrella again) all Final Destination style but with a more coherant story and with actual good characters and character arcs. Wow. I guess I really like mystery stuff huh?

 

[Benji Francis]

Accel World comes to mind, it's art style to me is very mechanical (and yes it has a virtual world where people are robots but I mean the real world look is also slightly mechanical). Everything has a sort of futuristic shine to it and it's a nice twist. All the characters are pretty memorable though too even the more minor ones will leave some imprint. The story actually deals with a bunch of kids (Yes kids, 1-15) who fight for control over a virtual plane of existence called The Accelerated World.
They're powers are all drawn from traumatic events. Which when the program to enter this new world is installed, manifest themselves in to the character's avatar. Since it takes place in a virtual realm no one is really OP and all the fights are fun to watch but don't take too long to finish.
The characters also all have their own flaws, the main character actually being a fat ass who's been bullied his entire life. Some other characters actually suffer from addiction, depression, and separation anxiety.
Over all the show isn't "Too Japanese" (Why are you watching anime if you don't want Japan?), the characters are all pretty believable, and it has a rather dark and interesting plot considering it deals with kids.

 

[K1CKER]

hmm..

I`m starting to think Avatar and Legend of Korra really are NOT anime.

 

[Nazulu]

Edit: Oh. and Fullmetal Alchemist. how could i forget that.

Yes, how could you. *whack*

Also, see the first Hunter X Hunter anime and Beserk. Those 3 are my favourite, preferred them way over the Avatars.

 

[keiskay]

darker then black is a very serious style anime and has no overly feminine characters. its an action drama though so there isn't very much comic relief besides a joke here and there. if you want a funny anime thats still fairly serious try trigun ,soul eater or the ever great samurai champloo.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Cowboy Bebop, Baccano!, and Trigun are so western that they eat christianity and shit balance-of-power wars fought with muskets. Helps that the english Dubs are all excellent.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

hmm..

I`m starting to think Avatar and Legend of Korra really are NOT anime.

They aren't anime, the animation was created in South Korea and published by an American company. The plot is Asian influenced, but specifically Chinese and not Japanese. And the show(s) was created by Americans.

Well, the Fire Kingdom was pretty obviously Japanese, and the Water kingdom was more Inuit than anything else. Air was arguably Tibet, with the Earth Kingdom being the one that was most likely based on China.

Also, it wasn't just published by an American company. It was an American production from the start, it's just that most of the grunt work in actually animating it was outsourced to South Korea, which is a common practice in Japan, too.

OT: Try Akira. As in the movie from the 80's. There's a reason it was such a strong gateway anime back in the day, and it's well done enough that it can still stand as one today. I'll also second Full Metal Alchemist as having a lot in common with Avatar, but as a pure example of the kind of quality that is possible if you dig for the good stuff, Akira is incredibly tough to beat.

 

[NightHawk21]

hmm..

I`m starting to think Avatar and Legend of Korra really are NOT anime.

They aren't anime, the animation was created in South Korea and published by an American company. The plot is Asian influenced, but specifically Chinese and not Japanese. And the show(s) was created by Americans.

There's an article on this on the front page, but to me personally if it looks like anime, plays out like like an anime, an features similar morals and stuff as an anime it doesn't really matter where it was made.

Edit: I was gonna suggest the Avatar series (both of them) to you but that was shut down in your original post lol.

 

[Furioso]

Full Metal Alchemist all the way, that thing has everything, you should seriously give it a look. (Have only seen Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which is very close to the manga, but I hear the first anime they made from it, simply called Full Metal Alchemist, is also great)

 

[deserteagleeye]

Toradora is pretty good. There's also Baccano! I'm blanking on anything else.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Technically, Avatar isn't anime, it's incredibly good Western animation.
OT: Cowboy Bebop is the one classic anime that every anime fan and casual animation watcher have seen and loved, so I'd go for that.

 

[Dethenger]

Black Lagoon.

That anime is fucking Tits McGee. The only prerequisite it could possibly fail is "no exaggerated badass tits on a stick," but she's not just some shallow hard ass with giant funbags, she's (to me) a compelling character with a wealth of interesting traits that just so happens to include magnificent knockers.

 

[SgtGimli]

I would say that Fullmetal Alchemist would be a good choice for you, It seems to fit in with the list you made. The characters to me at least seem to be well written and are not annoying, and I cant think of any effiminate guys. I would definatly say the powers are reasonable and not too overpowered. There is plenty of action. The story is good, and Fullmetal Alchemist I believe has more of a European setting than a Japaneese setting so that covers your last point.


I also have to recommend Bleach even though it doesnt 100% fit within your list. I also used to hate anime, and Bleach was the first anime that I ever tried to watch, and I ended up loving it.

 

[the doom cannon]

Cowboy Bebop, Baccano!, and Trigun are so western that they eat christianity and shit balance-of-power wars fought with muskets. Helps that the english Dubs are all excellent.

I second Trigun. It's really good. Lots of action, some comedy, good character development and world development too. Most of your "entry level" stuff is going to have some crazy powers, but honestly Avatar is pretty crazy once you think about it. I mean they can bend the elements at their core to their will, that's pretty crazy if you ask me. Full Metal Alchemist as a lot of similarities with Avatar, as a lot of people have stated.

It's hard for me to quantify "reasonable." Controlling an element seems about on par with the alchemy of FMA, the weapon skills in Trigun and Cowboy Bebop. However, it doesn't jibe with the mainstream "entry level" anime like Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, D. Gray Man, Hitman Reborn, or any other such battle oriented anime. So here are some recommendations based on minor absurdity and lack of excessive feminization.

Air Gear: basically a battle anime in which they use modified roller blades to "battle" or race. No excessively crazy antics in this one.

Persona 4 the Animation: The whole persona thing may be a little extravagant, but it's a very believable world, so I'm gonna recommend it.

If you want completely absurd, utterly hilarious, then look no further than Gintama