Show me a good anime please

[DarkRyter]

This is where I stopped reading DarkRytar's post and concluded that he (or she) has zero taste. One Piece? Okay, that's fine, but out of all the series to select for no overblown and exaggerated characters, you choose Bleach and Naruto?

It's not a matter about giving him what I think is good. It's about giving him what he wants, and ultimately the big three have more in common with Avatar than 90 percent of everyone else's recommendations (which tend to be just copy pasted from people's personal top ten lists). They're all eating from the same "super powered young male protagonist participates in world changing conflicts against other super powered individuals" tree.

And it's ultimately not your place or mine, to decide whether they're good or bad. It's his.

 

[Snowbell]

If it hasn't already been mentioned; Black Lagoon. It's everything you're looking for.

Also I saw someone mention Bastard, it has a lot of useless breasts in it so I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Cheesepower5]

Really shocked no one mentioned the classic Cromartie High School

oh lawd. I showed Cromartie to all my friends, even the ones who hate anime. They loved it. Not gonna say it has universal appeal, but if you like occasionally nonsensical comedy it's for you.

 

[John Pepperell]

I have i couple of good ones and a few that might be a bit of a stretch, first the good ones for the list
Slayers(mid-evil era plus magic and a female main character who is one of the most powerful human of the planet)
El hazard
Zoids((animal mech fights)both of the series that you can find in english)
Case closed(great mystery series)
S-Cry-Ed(think x-men but in japan isolated on an island)
Now for the ones that are just a bit of a stretch
G-gundam(it is kind of hammy but it is a quality series that has some good drama to it)
Yu-yu Hakusho(It is a great series but thre are some powers that are just a hair to strong)

 

[stef1987]

You must be new here.

People only read the OP in R&P.

(Hey, if OT gets to call R&P the dungeon, I can complain about people not reading OPs elsewhere )

OP, R&P, OT ?
what ?
I have no idea what you're saying

 

[SycoMantis91]

Black Butler. Set in old-time London, extremely funny, good action, and a really interesting, deep and world-encompassing story line. There are a couple fairly powerful characters but it's very reasonable when you find out what they are (which isn't initially revealed but gets perfectly hinted at and eventually revealed throughout), also they don't make regular-powered characters irrelevant or useless like shows such as DBZ tend to do over time. This is only the first season, mind you. As I haven't seen the second because I can't find a good dub and fuck reading moving images.

Secondly, not EVERYONE does (or can) watch The Walking Dead, escapist captcha!! ,!,, (that's a middle finger)

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

Lately I've been watching this currently ongoing anime called Hunter X Hunter ( The 2011 version)

I hate to say I've been obsessed with it lately. What I love about it is its unique ability system ( In the vein of Spiritual Pressure, Chakra, Magic, Magicka, etc.) called Nen. Nen is the ability to manipulate your spiritual aura into a variety of ways. Not only is it interesting and creative, bu also it's thoroughly throughout ( There are techniques, Allignments, etc.

There is almost no fanservice ( Maybe if you like 12 year old in wife beaters.), and non of the main characters are really super overpowered. ( All 4 of the main characters are capable fighters who have defeated their fair share of opponents, but they are just the runt of the liter. There are plenty of people who who would easily wipe their asses with them)

Another reason I like it is that there is no Power Level crap. You can't win a fight just by saying "FRIENDSHIP!!!!!! IT GIVES ME POWER CHARGE!!!!" A Powerful opponent could be defeated by weaker opponents. The outcome just depends on how you use your abilities in the situation.

 

[EvilMaggot]

i would say Naruto..

but if you really wanna try something else...

Elfen Lied
Ao No Exorcist

 

[Raioken18]

The TC has a very specific need in terms of what he's looking for...

Anyway this was covered in one of the escapist podcasts recently, that in american culture they like the big muscle bound dude to win. In asian culture the males are generally more feminine and that is their typical hero.

From what he described I'd recommend playing Call of Duty rather than watching anime... it's just not for everyone.

Also I lol'd at not too overpowered when he liked Avatar, (don't get me wrong i love Avatar but...) Aang has one of the most OP powers ever, avatar state.

I'm going to go a little left field here and say try "The Last Exile",
while "believable world" might be a little bit of a stretch, the rest of your requests would have been met. It's a steampunk post cataclysm setting where land floats in the sky and they use low tech flying machines to traverse the last bastion of humanity, there's bureaucracy and stuff... maybe not.

 

[togutas]

I can't help myself with these threads

Kino's journey is just wonderful. A story with the simplicity of a children's fairy tale but by no means is a children's show, in fact it is one of the most mature shows I have seen


now and then here and there is an anime made by the guy behind Grave of the fireflies and is just as heart breaking and even more disturbing and harrowing. Do not watch if you just want light entertainment. It's nothing short of a masterpiece


If your a fan of genuine Sci fi film and literature like the films moon and silent running or the works of Asimov Planetes is the anime for you


Gankutsuo is a retelling of the famous Dumas novel The Count of Monte Cristo, using the story as a basis but reworking them into a story that differs on many levels from the book but still stays true to the source (I also prefer the anime to the book)

Oh and the animation style never gets old


AND finally Fullmetal Alchemist if you haven't seen it. It is by quite a long way my favourite anime, beating the likes of Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Beserk, revolutionary girl uetena, baccano and all the above. It is a fantasy epic that I hold up with the like of the Lord of the Rings novels and the Earthsea Trilogy. In fact I like it more than either of them. It is quite simply on of the best stories written in any medium due to how heartfelt and personal it is with some of the most well realised characters in anime while at the same time being a fantastic fantasy epic. It has some flaws but they are negligible.





I cant find a trailer that does the series justice. The OST is more fitting of the tone Oh an watch the original NOT BROTHERHOOD whatever people may tell you its an inferior work IMO

 

[silverskystar]

Well, I'm surprised at how many people already mentioned it but Darker Than Black seems to fit all of your criteria, especially the "serious world changing story while also being funny" part.I guess you could call it X-Men meets Stalker (the movie).

The first few episodes aren't amazing, but with an early on plot twist it's easy to get sucked into the story. All of the "powers" are balanced out by a "price," and it's Studio Bones so the action is smooth. Also, though the setting is in Tokyo, amazingly most of the main characters aren't Japanese, and not every foreigner is a blond and blue-eyed American. (There is a blond and blue-eyed British James Bond-inspired character, though.)

Other than Darker Than Black, Baccano, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Black Lagoon are probably also good bets.

 

[V8 Ninja]

now and then here and there is an anime made by the guy behind Grave of the fireflies and is just as heart breaking and even more disturbing and harrowing. Do not watch if you just want light entertainment. It's nothing short of a masterpiece

Fun fact; both Now and Then, Here and There director Akitaro Daichi and writer Hideyuki Kurata were more widely known for their lighthearted, comedy-bordering-on-shojo projects prior to N&T,H&T.

Captcha: "teh inter webs"...OH GOD THE CAPTCHA KNOWS!!! IT IS THE YEAR OF THE APOCALYPSE!!!

 

[IamQ]

Really shocked no one mentioned the classic Cromartie High School

I love that anime sooooooo much!

"*gasp* I mentioned anime yet nothing here is moving!"

*pen rolls*

"MOVEMENT!"

 

[Xanadu84]

It's a tad old school now, but try the Rouroni Kenshin OVA, might be called Samurai X in english. Kenshin is a bit effeminate, but he is also based loosely on an assassin who was known to look effeminate, and it's hardly too extreme. But if you find the TV show, you will (Looks at your list)...be very disappointed.

I think that's all I can add that hasn't already been added.

 

[KP Shadow]

I'd recommend doing what I did: Watch a good abridged series (I'd recommend Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged, Team Four Star's Dragon Ball Z Abridged, and Gutted Wren Studios' Mobile Suit Gundam Abridged). I've found that things tend tend to be more accessible if your introduction to it is in the form of a parody.

 

[FireAza]

This is where I stopped reading DarkRytar's post and concluded that he (or she) has zero taste. One Piece? Okay, that's fine, but out of all the series to select for no overblown and exaggerated characters, you choose Bleach and Naruto?

It's not a matter about giving him what I think is good. It's about giving him what he wants, and ultimately the big three have more in common with Avatar than 90 percent of everyone else's recommendations (which tend to be just copy pasted from people's personal top ten lists). They're all eating from the same "super powered young male protagonist participates in world changing conflicts against other super powered individuals" tree.

And it's ultimately not your place or mine, to decide whether they're good or bad. It's his.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. OP seems to be after anime in the "shounen" genre (i.e action fantasy series intended for a younger male audience) if he enjoyed Avatar. As bad as Bleach and Naruto are, and as much as I wouldn't like to recommend them, there's no denying that they are the kings of the shounen genre.

Kino's journey is just wonderful. A story with the simplicity of a children's fairy tale but by no means is a children's show, in fact it is one of the most mature shows I have seen

Seconding Kino's Journey, it's one of the best anime ever.

As to OP's original question, the shounen genre isn't really my forte (I'm more of a fan of comedies with interesting characters) but I can make one suggestion and why it would be suitable. I'll be addressing OP's "requirements" (though personally I'm in favour of letting a show stand on it's own merits) by breaking them down into 7 points:

Full Metal Alchemist​

Why:
1) There are absolutely no effeminate male characters. Why? Because the creator of the original comics believes that men should be manly
2) There are only a few female characters in FMA, but of the ones that are, none are the girly "Sailor Moon" type. The main female, Winrey, is a competent mechanic but still feminine in a few ways.
3) FMA does a really good job at fleshing out it's world and it's rules, making it very believable. It also helps that the alchemy in the show follows the laws of physics and chemistry.
4) Technically, none of the characters in FMA have "powers". They use alchemy, which is sorta magical, but it follows natural laws.
5) FMA has a number of cool action sequences involving people who can re-shape matter and use chemistry in combat.
6) FMA has a very good story, and the world changes a lot as the story processes (i.e if someone loses a limb, it's gone forever). It's also a well-balanced mix of serious and funny
7) The FMA world is basically a fantasy version of Germany. About the only Asian culture in the show comes from Xin, a fantasy version of China.

 

[Kuranesno7]

Ghost in the Shell (movie, tv shows, anything involved in that shit!)
Serial Experiments Lain (cyberpunk mindfuck)
Texhnolyze (gang wars in a world where dismemberment and limb replacement are commonplace)
Ergo Proxy (Dystopian future mixed with godlike sentinals looking after the last bastions of humanity on a cursed earth)
Katanagatari (*****, you better be watching this beautiful philosophical deconstruction of revenge)
Tatami Galaxy(you remember speed racer? think that voice speed, but in Japanese, and used in a post-modern rendition of a guy wondering what the fuck happened to the four years of university he attended.)