Show me a good anime please

[-Drifter-]

Not a tv-series, but I thought AKIRA was pretty kick-ass. It does sort of fail one of your criteria...

- no super exaggerated overpowered characters, all the special powers they have are reasonable.

... but I think that's the point. A member of a biker gang gets super powers, and the results are about what you'd expect if you gave god-like abilities to an angry, jealous kid who's scared and confused.

EDIT:

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.

Crap, beat me to it.

 

[Denamic]

I dunno, there's Fate/Zero, Gintama, Nodame Cantabile, Beck, Usagi Drop, Mushishi, Great Teacher Onizuka...
Off the top of my head.
Look up AniDB for more.

 

[Marik2]

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.

How about IGPX?


And anime is cartoons.

 

[Prosis]

Another vote for Fullmetal Alchemist. It is a great intro to anime. The world is a believable one, the fights are common and interesting, without devolving into super death lasers. It also avoids the common anime traps and pitfalls.

I'd also recommend Trigun. The first half of the series is very funny and well thought out. I didn't like the second half so much, but I still rewatch the first half now and again.

If you're just looking for well designed cartoons with spanning plots like Avatar, not just necessarily anime, I'd take a look at Spectacular Spiderman. Sure, he never leaves New York, but it is a great cartoon, with some of the best fight scenes I've seen in a while, well developed characters and villains, and an interesting plot which plays out through the entire series.

 

[smearyllama]

FLCL, I suppose.
Don't get me wrong, it's insane. Like, ridiculously insane. But it's good, and is sort of what you're looking for. It's very cartoony, yet the characters are realistic and believable at the same time. Imagine Yellow Submarine meets The Catcher in the Rye. It's a look at growing up and how it sucks, told via giant robot fights, aliens, and bass guitars. The setting is a somewhat realistic factory town, where "nothing amazing ever happens, and everything is normal", according to the main character, which fits your criteria.
It's very, very Japanese, but it's also emotionally affecting in a way that's hard to describe. Go ahead and watch it.

 

[Riddle78]

Outlaw Star. Yeah,there's the stereotypical "Damsel" character,but she has a valid excuse: She's a gynoid built with the express purpose of being the titular ship's Nav-CPU. Everyone else passes your very odd test for good anime. As for visual style...Get used to it. Anime comes from Japan,so it'll "look Japanese" no matter what. Furthermore,it's "vintage" (I'm using airquotes,I don't actually know what would qualify as vintage anime);it's original run was 96-99. Finally,there are guns that shoot magic. Looks utterly badass,and there's only one survivor of said weapon that I can remember...And it was played for laughs.

It's very action packed. And,for some reason,one of the characters can bisect a bus with a bokken. Lengthwise. It's awesome. Trust me.

 

[DeeWiz]

Honestly you should just give a list of shows you enjoy (Western or not) as that will most likely determine your taste.
Anime is just the word for animation in Japan, when you watch in on your tv they call it TV Anime, because it is just that television anime. OF course they will use just the word anime to refer to it but then again no other animation form besides Disney has penetrated the market (and Disney is its own separate obsession out here, oh yeah I live in Japan).
My advice: Treat anime as you would any other animation style and instead integrate it's unique genres into the lexicon.

Best animes to start you on would probably be Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (enough has been said on it.
Angel Beats: Teenagers who died unfullfilled all together in an afterlife that is like a high school, it gets pretty deep in the emotions with some humor to lighten the mood.
Phantom - Requiem for the Phantom: Assassins that used to be normal people that were then brainwashed and trained to kill for a crime syndicate, pretty big rollercoaster of a plot. It pretty much combines crime dramas, assassins, and the morality struggles and consequences that result. The plot actually takes place over several years with a couple years jump in the middle, pretty epic and had my crying man tears at the end. No humor here, it is dark and depressing, shows how deep anime can go even in what the Western world would be termed as nothing more than an action film.
Seto no Hanayome (My Bride is a Mermaid) - no not realistic at all but probably the funniest show I've watched in a long time. Basically guy is saved by a mermaid and they end up having to get married so neither has to die (for exposing the secret). The mermaids are actually a yakuza family and well hilarity most definately ensues. I fell of my damn chair several times.
Code Geass- Mecha show - kinda of, similar protagonist to Death Note - maybe, best damn example of the ends justifing the means (something not allowed in the Western media) - hell yes.

Hard to recommend stuff since it seems you like the Shonen genre - world changing plots, some humor, etc. but hate the other tropes of the genre, over the top powers, big breasts etc. The more serious shonen (The aformention FMA and Code Geass) tend to downplay your negatives and I threw in some other stuff too.

 

[Darknacht]

Bastard!!

Its an anime full of heavy metal references.

 

[K1CKER]

well I knew this was the right place to ask

there has to be something good in all these suggestions

thanks all

 

[DioWallachia]

Forget Anime, just look around the granddaddies of Shonen Manga and contemplate how low have the children of these MANtastic series have fallen.

Jojo's Bizzarre Adventure
Hokuto No Ken

If you really want an anime, then i may as well just suggest Death Note (detective novel) or Higurashi Na Koro Ni (paranoia galore ) and Wolf's Rain

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

Soul Eater, Full metal alchemist, Code Geass. They've all been said but i whole-heartedly support their recommendation.

Soul Eater:
((here's funimations offical channel, seems to be the full episode judging by the clips length))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzgClzK-7w
-It's a story about people who can transform into weapons, in an academy headed by the grim reaper. They fight witches and people who've turned evil. It's a very good show, Every single character is likeable(even the ones who are meant to be annoying people) which i enjoyed a lot once i finally gave it a shot.

Full Metal Alchemist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd0i5KR4hIM
- it's a story about people who can use 'scientific' magic, main character joins the military. They fight bad people and humunculi. Also a very good show, I'd suggest you watch the first series then Brotherhood, as brotherhood (IMO) was slightly better.

------
and despite the lack of video: I recommend Code Geass, I thought that was pretty great.
First 'proper' anime I watched (as in, not dragonballZ/yugioh/pokemon/digimon morning cartoon shows) and it seriously blew my mind.

It's about a guy who gets the power to basically mind control people, and he becomes a strategic mastermind-type. Uses all these tricks, with the help of his special power to set them up, to beat his enemies despite their superior forces.

Set in an alternate history where Britannia exists instead of America, and are basically a bunch of imperial social darwinistic types who have conquered much of the world.
It's got action (there's mechs called 'knightmare frames')
there's comedy in his everyday shenanigans as he tries to not reveal his identity
and there's awesome in how he masterminds all this badassery.

((If you don't like it after the first few episodes you can always stop watching, but you really should give these a go. Another one similar to code geass is deathnote, it's the same kind of 'masterminding' just without the mechs/action/imperialism basically.))

 

[evilneko]

Noir. Seriously, watch Noir.

Practically anything Miyazaki, but especially Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke.

Record of Lodoss War.

Sohryuuden/Legend of the Dragon Kings.

Key The Metal Idol.

Aand I think that's enough. BTW, these are all older anime. Don't even think about watching the dubs.

Except maybe Nausicaa, which even though it's probably the oldest one I mentioned, is the most recent one to have a proper release in the US.

Okay, fine, just to show that an anime doesn't have to be old to meet your criteria...I'll second Angel Beats, and also...

Higurashi Na Koro Ni

Might help if you didn't leave out random bits of the name.

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni.
Alt titles: Higurashi When They Cry; When They Cry

...yeah that one.

Then there's Canaan, Claymore, Dance in the Vampire Bund, Fate/Zero, Fate Stay/Night (Zero's better, also the prequel), and Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex.

 

[Jonluw]

Considering your requirements, I'd have to say Fullmetal alchemist: Brotherhood.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Viewing your list of requirements, I suggest you look elsewhere, because Japanese animation just doesn't seem to be your bag.

Maybe check movies like Ninja Scroll, and Spriggan.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Judging from your requirments, try some of Satoshi Kon's work.
Perfect Blue
Millennium Actress
Tokyo Godfathers
Paprika
Paranoia Agent

While none of them are exactly action packed, they're very psychological (with the exception of Tokyo Godfathers.)

You can also try Kino's Journey. It's about a travaler going from country to country, encountering many different people and different, and sometimes bizarre, customs. It's a bit slow paced, and short, but it's a very fascinating watch, and has it's fair share of action.

You can also give Madoka Magica a shot, just don't let the cutesy art or the fact that it's a magical girl anime fool you.

Other than that, pretty much what some of the others above suggested. Cowboy Bebop, Baccano!, etc.

 

[stef1987]

...
- no big eyed female characters that sound like a squealing mouse and are either helpless tits or exaggerated bad-ass tits on-a-stick.
...
- no super exaggerated overpowered characters, all the special powers they have are reasonable.
...

One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach.

Seriously ?
Orihime (bleach) is the exact manifestation of "squealing mouse helpless tits", and Nami (one piece) is "exaggerated bad-ass tits" (Nami not at first, but her cup size grew over time, which I strangely really detest).
And about super exaggerated overpowered characters, uhm, they all have totally overpowered characters, I mean, not as bad as Dragon Ball z, but still. Bleach was the worst IMO, the first 10 episodes where good, notting to extreme, but then came 10 boring episodes (more or less), and after that the dragon ball z -like fight-episodes started, and it was terrible and took forever, and the guy just kept on getting stronger. pft, I stopped watching when they freed the girl (forgot her name).

Anyway, dude, stick with avater, and maybe try some one piece and naruto if you want (not bleach), but personally I would suggest Samurai Jack (that's not anime at all, but it was a great show)

 

[Scarim Coral]

I believe the anime "Tiger and Bunny" fit the bill.
That anime feel more like a western show and it also set in a New York like metropolis. Also the characters are not typical anime cliche (no big boob fanservice girl) and the characters themselves are genuie interesting especially the chemistry between the two main characters (pretty much like the whole buddy cop type of thing).
Also for a superhero theme anime it also somewhat more akin to Western superhero like Marvel or DC (well half of them wear proper armour for protection) so no magical girl or Sentei type of heroes that is shown from the East.
The show itself is 26 episodes although it kind off split into 13 episode (in terms of the story plot). Althought I read there is going to be season 2 since it is a popular anime.

Anyway here is the trailer-
Don't let teh sponsors put you off as they are NOT in your face about it!

 

[Artemis923]

BERSERK.

It's the only right answer.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Since no one has said it yet, I'll recomend Steins;Gate.

Spoiler: OP

It's a serious animé based around time travel. And a rather good one at that.
I don't want to spoil it too much, so I'll just leave it at that.

 

[Zandarck]

I'm gonna throw in Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate, love the intro song to the series.