Inuyasha and Dragonball, yes. Trigun is decidedly not infantile. It has a strong goofball element to it, but underlying that is a strong dramatic sci-fi storyline. In watching the series, the transition from “goofy skiffy western” to “dramatic science fiction story with western theming” is handled very well.
Oh yeah, about the one I mentioned earlier, Kino’s Journey, don’t let the description scare you away. A girl and a talking motorcycle exploring a different country in each episode sounds like it could be the description of a kid’s show on PBS, but it’s really much better than it sounds. Also, the countries are fictional.
Macross Plus is a great shorter series. It has some huge themes kind of like movies like Akira, but it’s a lot more comprehensible and I like it a lot more.
Evangelion is good, but I’m disappointed by how it can be really childish sometimes, especially in regards to sexual tension (A guy and girl in a cockpit, the girl in front and saying stuff like “Stop reaching around me to pilot! You’re just trying to cop a feel!”)
I do like its approach to giant robots. It takes a LOT of power to use them and even then they can’t be used for very long.
Gundam Wing is another giant robot one that I like. It involves a lot of the psychological stuff, because some of the Gundams interface with the pilot’s mind in order to increase reaction time. Also, the pilots are often at danger because of the high G forces.
I adore almost anything by Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro was my first, years ago), but I never thought of his work as anime.
I wanted to get into anime, but couldn’t get into the ones (Trigun, for instance) that were recommended to me…until I bought the set of Serial Experiments: Lain. I watched them with my teenaged daughter when she was home with mono, which was fun because we could discuss them. I never watched the last 2 discs because it’s not much fun to watch cool stuff like that alone, without all the conversation and conjecturing it inspires.
I think Boogiepop Phantom was made my the same people that made Lain. It’s got a similar weirdness, but it is kind of different. It’s less philosophical and much more disturbing and creepy.
There’s talk of anime and no one mentioned the classics?
You have to watch Gunbuster which is light-hearted but I think it has real story to it. This is an oldie, but a goodie to me - Bubblegum Crisis (and Bubblegum Crisis Crash). It’s such a good series (and short), and it makes you think as you’re watching. I really love that series.
Also, you have to watch the Rurouni Kenshin series. It’s silly at times, but it also packs in action, thrills and a bit of romance.
You also have to watch Bleach. It’s a pretty recent anime, and may take a few episodes to get into it, but the story really picks up and soon you’ll be hooked!
Have fun watching!
Doesn’t Lodoss War have that weird little bit at the end with the superdeformed versions of the main characters? I couldn’t get around that.
My current favorites are Cowboy Bebop, Ghost In The Shell and the sequel (havent’ seen the series yet), and Wolf’s Rain. Wolf’s Rain is one of those ones you really have to see from the beginning though; if you jump in the middle, like I did by catching it on Adult Swim, you won’t know what the hell is going on. Cowboy Bebop mostly works if you just see one episode here and there, and I think the first few are a bit weaker than the rest, but it’s best if you see them all.
There were two Lodoss Wars, the original, and a redo* that had the cheesy animations at the end. I saw the redo first, which I suspect might explain my lowered enthusiasm for the series.
- It’s actually a sequel, but the main characters, story, character arc, etc. all are redos of the original so…
(Personally) the ending of Lain was a good bit of a let down from the rest of the series. Not sure if they cut the series short or what, but just suddenly Lains computer transforms into an evil cyborg thing and gives her the choice of whether to rule the world, so she decides “something” and everything goes back to normal…or something. I can’t recall it was too cheesey, but serious Deux Ex Machina.
Some great suggestions thus far. Our family’s very fond of Kiki’s Delivery Service, The Castle of Cagliostro, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, and My Neighbor Totoro. Good for kids, and plenty for grownups to enjoy, too.
Well, they are horny teenagers. Shinji is your typical teenage loser that can’t get a date and Asuka is a fairly hot chick his age - why wouldn’t he get a little excited?
nods The OVA is far superior to the TV series, even if they deviate from the manga.
Cowboy bebop cowboy bebop cowboy bebop cowboy bebop.
I know it’s been suggested a couple of times already on this thread, but I feel compelled to inform you it is imperative that you watch the series Cowboy Bebop, preferably all the episodes in order. Be patient. After a couple or three episodes you will be absolutely absolutely hooked.
Also, I recomend Paranoia Agent, though this may be a little more of a controversial recomendation. It’s also a very serious and character-driven anime (no big robots or silly screaming or big eyes) with an eerie sci-fi/supernatural/twilight-zone kind of plot. Towards the end of the series, there’s a bit of a preachy “moral of the story” kind of feel to the whole thing, but don’t let that bother you. (It’s not even that bad, actually.)
Just let the show freak you out.
-FrL-
The above is a quote of my last message, but with corrections edited in. I didn’t mean to imply that Cowboy Bebop has a “twilight zone”-ish aspect to it–it doesn’t. Paranoia Agent does.
-Kris
TCM has been doing a Miyazaki festival this month. So far they’ve shown Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Nausicaa, Laputa, Porco Rosso, My Neighbor Totoro and Whispers of the Heart. The action occurs on Thursday nights at 8 pm. Be there or be EXTREMELY regretful.
And if you liked Bebop, go look into Samurai Champloo. Whereas Bebop was a mix of scifi and Jazz, Champloo is a mix of Edo-era Samurai and hiphop.
Although I have to say I’m concerned by the way Bebop is being hyped. Let’s not build it up too much! 
I misread the schedule and CB is shown early Sunday morning (1:30am) and I’ve missed the first three episodes. Assuming CN shows the entire 26 ep run, it’ll be a while before it cycles back. I’ve got plenty of room on the DVR and it could easily hold the entire series.
My luck is that I’ll record the 23 eps left and they’ll stop showing it.
Master Keaton is excellent stuff. It’s just beautifully written with good character development and subtly interesting plots ranging from how to find the perfect recipe for an old home-style dish in order to save a young chef’s career to rescuing a kidnapped art forger from a counterfeiting gang. The main character, Keaton Taichi Hiraga is a half Japanese, half English wanderer of sorts - he’s supposed to be an archeology professor but he kept skipping the class he was meant to teach to go and do insurance investigation for Lloyds of London so he got fired. His dream in life is to prove his one great archeological theory but he’s too insecure in himself to really do what it takes to pursue his dream, even though he’s a very able and competent person.
Really fascinating series. Odd, but good. No giant robots, no magical girls, just a strange but sweet guy getting into exciting situations.
1:30, yeah, but they run through the schedule twice every evening so it will be on again at 4:30 in case you want a backup.
To be perfectly honest, they WILL take it out of that timeslot once they reach the end, if not sooner. Adult Swim shuffles it’s schedule around every three or four months (to their credit, they announce the bejesus out of it). Don’t worry, though, they haven’t gone for long without the Bebop repeats since it’s still very, very popular. There’s also a good chance that they’ll stop showing it on Saturdays and move it to the M-Th 1:30 slot.
And one of the beauties of Cowboy Bebop is that, while the majority of the episodes are self-contained, there are three instances of episodes or mini arcs that occur at different places in the series that give it something akin to an over-arching plot. Even though you missed the introduction of three of the central characters (and their dog), you can pretty much figure out how they fit together in any given episode. Don’t worry about jumping in the middle too much. Those three story arcs have nearly all of the character development and reveal more about their background than the introductory episode. As such, I wouldn’t miss those, and the first one wil begin on saturday.
CB isn’t terrible, but I’m not too much of a fan of it. (same with Witch Hunter Robin. It’s odd when anime rips off a show like Charmed) .hack//SIGN on the other hand, was fancinating. I don’t play RPG games, but I know enough about them through osmosis to have understood the storeline.
If you liked Lodoss for its being mostly character-driven with a plot that still makes one solid, reasonable arc- Crest of the Stars. I’d describe it as a LeGuin-like space opera. It’s essentially two main characters in a (totally nonsexual) relationship, with a kind of dignified minimalism to it and an intergalactic civil war background.
Also, there’s not much action, so no grunting and screaming, though a bit of whining is involved.