# recommend some Anime to the guy with only a passing familiarity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055 "2004-08-03T00:48:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/1 "2004-08-03T00:48:09Z")
Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I was interested in anime. However, the amount of interest in the US was significantly less than it is now, and anime was very expensive and hard to come by due to lack of interest and lack of stateside distribution. In the meantime, my interest waned while public interest _exploded_ - you can now get a wealth of anime at “regular” prices, and you can buy it _anywhere_. I’ve seen the basic tokens - Akira, the original Bubblegum Crisis, the Wings of Honneamise, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo, Riding Bean, Record of Lodoss War, Mermaid’s Forest/Scar, Vampire Hunter D, Robotech/Macross, Evangelion. In my recent re-emerging interest in anime, I’ve been turned on to (and by) Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Utena, Escaflowne, and of course Miyazaki. So where do I go from here? What’s good that I should check out? I’ve heard some good things about “Noir.” Also, list stuff that I can check out via Netflix if possible. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![dry\_gear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@dry\_gear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dry_gear)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/2 "2004-08-03T01:11:02Z")
Cowboy Bebop is one of the best. I loved Trigun, but I don’t know if non-anime fans would like it or not. The best thing about Trigun is the main character’s conflict with being unwilling to kill. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/3 "2004-08-03T01:16:25Z")
'nother vote for Cowboy Bebop. Early episodes are best. I think it jumped the shark when they picked up Ed. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/4 "2004-08-03T01:20:45Z")
Depends on what you like. Story driven or just plain carnage. Or just move onto Hentai and forget everything else :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/5 "2004-08-03T01:37:45Z")
Based on the ones I already like (in the OP), I can go either way. Plain carnage is fun, tentacle monster madness is fun, introspective stories are fun. Just whatever’s _good_. I already own all of the Bebop DVD’s. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/6 "2004-08-03T02:50:05Z")
> [@Burrido](#): > > Depends on what you like. Story driven or just plain carnage. Or just move onto Hentai and forget everything else :eek: Move on to the hentai and DON’T forget everything else. Cool Devices, Behind Closed Doors, Fencer of Minerva, the Wordsworth Saga, Imma Youjo … lotta yuimmy stuff in that adult section. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/7 "2004-08-03T05:22:45Z")
If you liked Eva & FLCL, you might want to watch some other anime made by Gainax. Mahoromatic & Kare Kano are very good, Abenobashi is hilarious, and I just finished watching This Ugly and Beautiful World, it was another example of pure Gainax goodness. ---
**Author:** ![jfortun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2acd7d/32.png) [@jfortun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jfortun)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/8 "2004-08-03T13:59:21Z")
Check out Hellsing, Ninja Scroll (OVA and series), Samurai X, the original Gundam movies, Patalabor, Berserk, Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Love Hina. and of course- Goldenboy! I will list more if I think of any. [hijack] couldn’t stand Evangelion[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/9 "2004-08-03T19:58:01Z")
Not the biggest Anime fan here but Adult Swim on Saturday night is my favorite night for TV. My favorites are: Inuyasha Trigun Cowboy Bebop (I love Ed by the way) I’ve also watched and enjoyed Tenchi but after a while, it got tedious. If it’s not on Cartoon Network, I’m not familiar with it though. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/10 "2004-08-03T20:10:40Z")
If you like Bebop you’ll either love or hate Outlaw Star - should give it a shot. Perfect Blue is great. Obviously grab any Miyazaki you haven’t yet (the sneaky one is Castle of Cagliostro (a Lupin III movie) - it’s not a Ghibli production, so it’s not part of Disney’s deal. Manga released it in English.) Robot Carnival is LONG (like, 20 years) out of print, but you can find a copy, grab it. It’s one of my favourite movies - along with Wings of Honneamise. I’m a fan of Magic Knight Rayearth…although the Rayearth OAVs might be more your style than the TV series, based on the listed titles. (Both are good, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/11 "2004-08-03T21:19:04Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Robot Carnival is LONG (like, 20 years) out of print, but you can find a copy, grab it. It’s one of my favourite movies - along with Wings of Honneamise. “Robot Carnival” is one of the, if not _the_, movies that got me into Anime. I just happened to find a perfect condition copy a week ago at a video store that was going out of business. Score! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/12 "2004-08-03T23:55:32Z")
Hey, ginchy. That’s also how I got my copy. (Although it got sold to a comic shop first, the owners mentioned that when I bought it. (It was a warning the tape might be damaged - it wasn’t.)) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/13 "2004-08-03T23:59:34Z")
_Metropolis_. (Shoulda won a freakin’ Oscar) _Last Exile_—Great series, beautifully done. However, if you don’t like cliffhangers, you might want to wait until the end of the year when they release the last of the DVDs. (A most of the series is already out, but the last discs in the series won’t be out until later this year. :rolleyes: ) _Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040_—The “remake” series. I don’t know how it compares with the original, but it’s pretty good in it’s own right. And maybe _Witch Hunter Robin_. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/14 "2004-08-04T00:37:45Z")
Himura Kenshin, all of it. Beserk is great. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/15 "2004-08-04T00:53:24Z")
_Lupin The 3rd_–funniest of all anime. Hands down. _Lum/Urusei Yatsura_–also very good ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/16 "2004-08-05T05:37:38Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I was interested in anime. However, the amount of interest in the US was significantly less than it is now, and anime was very expensive and hard to come by due to lack of interest and lack of stateside distribution. > > In the meantime, my interest waned while public interest _exploded_ - you can now get a wealth of anime at “regular” prices, and you can buy it _anywhere_. > > I’ve seen the basic tokens - Akira, the original Bubblegum Crisis, the Wings of Honneamise, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo, Riding Bean, Record of Lodoss War, Mermaid’s Forest/Scar, Vampire Hunter D, Robotech/Macross, Evangelion. In my recent re-emerging interest in anime, I’ve been turned on to (and by) Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Utena, Escaflowne, and of course Miyazaki. > > So where do I go from here? What’s good that I should check out? I’ve heard some good things about “Noir.” Also, list stuff that I can check out via Netflix if possible. > > Thanks! Let’s see: there is Sailor Moon and Moomin… ---
**Author:** ![dry\_gear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@dry\_gear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dry_gear)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-anime-to-the-guy-with-only-a-passing-familiarity/258055/17 "2004-08-05T06:58:55Z")
> [@The Asbestos Mango](#): > > 'nother vote for Cowboy Bebop. Early episodes are best. I think it jumped the shark when they picked up Ed. I disagree. The last two episodes are fantastic. I like any of the Viscious episodes. Boogiepop Phantom is a great show. Millenium Actress is a really good movie.