I never jumped on the anime bandwagon until recently, when my Aunt recommended Soul Eater. For those who haven’t seen the series, it’s great fun and has some tremendous fight sequences.
We followed that up with Fullmetal Alchemist, which we just finished last night. I thought it was spectacular. I’ve been told the Brotherhood series is even better and I can’t even imagine how that’s possible. I absolutely loved the thematic elements of war, religion, perseverance, loyalty, etc.
I also really enjoy the emotional bonding and personal growth theme in these series. I’m looking for stuff that’s similar - or really just awesome. I am a huge fan of well-done battle sequences and stylistically distinct animation. My only caveat is that the one thing that bugs me about many anime shows is the portrayal of women as subservient or overly idealized gender conformists. That really turned me off to the concept until I discovered there are plenty of shows featuring badass chicks too.
So, what anime do you love? Bonus points if you can find it on Netflix instant.
For me, the best non-Miyazaki anime movie is Tokyo Godfathers. And it’s very different from Miyazaki, especially in being in a contemporary real-life setting. (If you like strong female characters, it has them – but one is an aging transsexual, and the other is a very bratty runaway teenager.)
Ah yes Tokyo Godfathers was directed by the late Satoshii Kon (RIP). Olives, try Birdy the Mighty: Decode. That anime took me by suprise, especially the second half of the season when it really takes off!
Some outstanding series on Netflix: Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran
The adventures of a wandering, alcoholic female samurai. Fantastic comedy and great fight sequences.
Read or Die, followed by R.O.D. the TV Series
Known for its incredible action sequences. Nerdy women who are obsessed with books are able to telekinetically control paper to devastating effect (just like real life).
Kino’s Journey
A philosophical tale of a girl traveling the world, visiting each country for three days to experience what it has to offer.
Trigun
The sometimes comedic, sometimes painfully serious, adventures of Vash the Stampede, the most wanted outlaw in the world, who happens to be a pure pacifist who refuses to even kill the assassins who keep trying to kill him.
Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal and Rurouni Kenshin
Trust and Betrayal is incredible, both for the story and action sequences, but very violent. Rurouni Kenshin is the same character after the events of T&B, now having vowed never to kill. It is more of an action comedy, but gets serious sometimes. You should watch the first season of Rurouni Kenshin, then T&B, then continue with RK.
Crest of the Stars, followed by Banner of the Stars I/II
Space opera science fiction featuring an excellent pair of main characters.
Master Keaton
Insurance investigator and archeologist Keaton travels the globe, getting into all kinds of interesting situations. He is a really wonderful character.
Case Closed (aka Detective Conan)
A well done detective show. The detective in question appears to be an elementary school boy, but is actually a 17-year-old who was shrunk by a drug meant to kill him.
I second this–I’d never watched any anime series, but I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender via Netflix and it’s now one of my favorite shows ever. I will be checking out some of the other recommendations from this thread when I have the time.
Full Metal Panic
Half military drama, half romantic comedy. A high school aged super soldier who didn’t have a childhood is inserted into a high school to protect the president’s daughter. On one hand, the whole protect the girl plot doesn’t scream strong female character, but she does notice that the soldier is following her and tricks him a couple times, and was seen holding “so long and thanks for all the fish”
Black Lagoon is a Seinen (not for kids) series about a quartet of badass smugglers operating in South-East Asia.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is another series I recommend. It is the anti-Neon Genesis Evangelion, a series about a couple of ludicrous badasses that pilot mecha powered by awesome. The main downsides are that the best chapters are all spoilers and the worst chapters are all found at the start of the series.
A lot of people in this thread seem to just be throwing out their favorite animes without actually reading the OP. There’s a strong variety of shows in anime. In no way would I recommend Hellsing, Wicked City or Ninja Scroll to someone who doesn’t like women being used as sex objects.
**Saiyuki **- I read your profile and you’re into Buddhism. Saiyuki is another iteration of Journey to the West, featuring a happy-go-lucky boy Son Goku and a sarcastic, cranky-ass Buddhist priest who smokes too damn much. Many of the women in the series look demure at first, but as the plot goes on you see the steel in their spines and the horrible things that have happened to them to shape who they are.
Revolutionary Girl Utena - Very gorgeous series. Throws gender conventions out of whack in every way. The title character Utena meets a prince when she is little and the experience stuck with her forever. She doesn’t want to the princess, she wants to be the prince who saves the princess! The princess gets smacked around by a guy who ‘won’ her and since he owns her, no one tries to do anything about it, except Utena, who comes in and says fuck this. Swordfighting ensues.
I have a manga recommendation as well. There was a short movie made of it, but it’s just really confusing to watch if you haven’t already read the series. RG Veda, as its title suggests, incorporates themes from the Rig Veda. The background is that a young child (kept genderless throughout) is born and prophecies dictate the child needs to be killed, otherwise the world will be destroyed. However, a man finds the child and takes care of it and refuses to believe that this innocent child can bring destruction, and as the prophecy dictates, Seven Stars come to protect the child.
I will second Rurouni Kenshin. It’s an amazing series that gets overlooked these days because of its age. It has a tendency to focus on the men more than the woman, but not any moreso than Fullmetal Alchemist. The strong themes of honour and respect coupled with the battles is great.
I don’t watch that much anime, but of the ones I’ve seen:
Princess Mononoke is one of my favorite movies. Also contains several badass females, as per the OPs request.
I’ll second Cowboy Beebop, its basically Firefly: the cartoon. It has between one and two female main characters, depending on what you think Edward is.
Ghost in the Shell has a female lead character. Basically what would happen if William Gibson made a cartoon.
The first half of Deathnote is one of the best TV shows I’ve seen, but it really falls apart in the second half. Also the female characters are the opposite of what your looking for. But I’ll throw it in here anyways, cause I really enjoyed the first part of it.
