Anime recommendations

[christmasjedi]

This weekend, sajuka and I were discussing Anime a bit. Neither of us knows much of anything about Anime, but we both have several friends who are very into it. We're interested in learning more, but we have absolutely no idea where to start. While there's a lot of really good Anime out there, there's also a lot of crap, and we don't really want to

Comments

[nasturtium]

Vampire Hunter D is a good movie to start with.

I'll have to think some more before I can find some more recommendations. It's been a while since the height of my anime fascination.

[sajuka]

As I mentioned to andorus below, I have actually seen D, and I'm interested in seeing it again and introducing christmasjedi to it.

[tamchronin]

I'm mostly into series, sorry. I could point you in the direction of some good ones, even short ones, but they're all series.

Out of all of my favorite series, I think you'd probably like Spiral the best. It is 26 episodes long, which is about average. Another good, 24 episode series, is "Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok". (aka. Matantei Loki Ragnarok)

Unfortunately, my two absolute favorite series are over 60 episodes long. XP They're wonderful, in my opinion, but you said you'd prefer movies. Also, one of them isn't out in English at all, as far as I know. Still, if you fine them and want to watch them, I'd recommend "Cardcaptor Sakura" and "Hikaru no Go".

If I knew your tastes a little more, I'd have a lot more recommendations for short series. I don't watch a lot of anime movies though. Anyway, good luck!

[tamchronin]

Oh, wait. Another long series just about anyone would love, no matter what they're into, is "Fullmetal Alchemist". I know that one is pretty easy to find, too. There are a few 12 episode series out that I've had recommended to me, or that I've seen and enjoyed. "Serial Experiments Lain" is one that everyone seems to love, but I haven't seen it.

~pause~

I could go on forever, if I started now...

[christmasjedi]

I have at least heard of Cardcaptor and Fullmetal Alchemist... I think we'll hold of on checking out series to begin with, but if we decide we want more, we'll definitely look into these. Are any of them on Cartoon Network, by chance? sajuka mentioned that the Miyazake movies were on last month. (We missed them)

[tamchronin]

I can't believe I forgot about Miyazaki. MEEP! The movies I've seen of his are great, so do check them out first.

Fullmetal Alchemist was on Cartoon Network the last time I checked, along with another favorite of mine, Inuyasha. I haven't been able to keep up with them though. They're on in the middle of the night, so you'd have to record them if you do check them out.

I finally posted the challenge fic for you, by the way. It's a little silly...but I hope you like it. ^_^

[honey_and_milk]

Hmm... Let me put together a list for you. Most of the good stuff that I've seen is series, though, so I'll see what I can do.

(This is Umi, btw, I'm just logged into my rp character, which is from one of my favorite series and my current obsession, Carcaptor Sakura, which I believe Tam mentioned as well)

[celiskywalker]

If you want movies, my favorites are anything by Miazake. I think you'd probably like either "Princess Mononoke" or "Naussica". We have the former but not the latter on DVD if you want to borrow it. Other than that, I mostly watch series.

Ranma 1/2 is an amusing series, and only the first season or two really needs to be watched, but it really depends on what kinds of things/humor/etc. you like. I can ask Jon's dad for recommendations if you like. He's more of an anime buff than Jon. :-)

I think the vast majority of anime is series since it's usually based on manga.

[andorus]

It's actually Miyazaki--Hayao Miyazaki. He's a HUGE force in modern Japanese animation and his films are just astonishing, and even his older films are still widely revered and loved by Japanese people as well as people around the world. A really cute one you could start with is Tonari No Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro)--there's also Howl's Moving Castle, and Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away). There are others that are more intense, like Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke) or Nausicaa.

I just got home and am pretty exhausted, but I knew I was one of the people you were thinking of as being a big anime/animation fan. ;o) I'd be happy to think up some more titles of series and movies and send them your way soon!

[sajuka]

So Miyazaki is a good recommendation, I've seen snippets of a few of his movies, but never sat down and watched any straight through. I'm a little surprised Akira hasn't come up yet, or is that passé in the world of anime now? I also got a recommendation for Ghost in the Shell from a coworker a while back, though I don't know anything about it.

In a more general comment, just to add my $0.02 to what christmasjedi said, I'm not looking to start a huge hobby, I'm interested in what are THE movies that should be seen. I didn't have to read every Shakespeare work to appreciate his work, but it was worth hitting the highlights. I have brushed with anime over the years (even saw Vampire Hunter D back in high school and want to revisit that one) and want to develop a reasonable appreciation for the art.

[tamchronin]

Actually, Akira is the first movie I thought of, but I haven't actually seen it. I've been told that the end would hit my squick buttons, so I haven't gotten around to it yet. It's one of those movies that everyone in anime circles has seen or has heard about though, so I think people just don't think to recommend it. It's too obvious.

[tigergladys]

My favorite series is Escaflowne. (There was a US tv series they made from very poorly edited clips of the original show - don't watch that one. It's terrible. Get the complete, subtitles one instead.) That, and Miyazaki films. I haven't really watched much else of anime that I've enjoyed.

[christmasjedi]

There was a US tv series they made from very poorly edited clips of the original show - don't watch that one. It's terrible.

Yeah, that's the type of thing we're hoping to avoid. Thanks for the rec!