I definitely second the classics Akira and Ghost in the Shell. And Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Grave of the Fireflies were all excellent.
Has anyone seen Serial Experiment: Lain? It’s something I wanted to check out, but now I can’t find it anywhere. Did I get the title wrong? Is it worth tracking down?
^^^
Found it on Amazon. Don’t know why I had trouble finding it before. But I’d still like to see what people think of it before I order.
Hated NGE, but thought Lain was worth at least a single watch. It’s not something I really recommend sitting through all at once, though–it’s very dense.
Overall, not my favorite anime by that particular studio (I enjoy Neia_7 and Haibana Renmei quite a bit more), but still worth seeing/owning.
Ghost in the shell - Stand alone complex
Hard to get hold of in some countries outside Japan but well worth it.
25 ish episodes
Oh, me, too. Like I said ‘delightfully bad’. Jimmy J J Walker as a Zoo-thingie (been a LOOONG time since I’ve seen either version) alone made it worth it. Luke Skywalker turning into a ginormous cockroach didn’t hurt neither. ^__~
Hey, thanks for the recs. Keep them coming if you’ve got more. I think I’ll try Escaflowne out as I’ve seen it recommended other places too. Is that it’s whole name, or is there more to it? I feel like I’ve seen many things under the name Escaflowne (did they really put this on Fox Kids?) and I didn’t know which one was the “good” one everybody talks about.
Is Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone at all a continuation of the movie? I really liked the movie, but I don’t really see how it could go on from there. Then again, it’s been a while so I might be forgetting a lot.
To be honest i’am not sure. I think it’s a prequil unless she got her old body back.
Yes, that was the same Escaflowne that you saw on FOX Kids. I know it was edited for mature content and aired by them but I didn’t see it. I’ve read there wasn’t much of a difference between the two versions though. The full name is Visions of Escaflowne. I didn’t like the series very much but it was worth seeing once. You might want to rent it first.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is a 26 episode series aired on tv in Japan. It is all new stories set in the same world with the same characters with the exception of the major never merged with the puppetmaster. Think of it as Ghost in the Shell in a alternative universe. The second movie is suppose to lead off right from the series. It is a must see with excellent plots and state of the art visuals.
Some animes I would recommend are (I assume you have access to fansubs)
Lupin III: Castle of Cogliostro (also by Hayao Miyazaki)
Noir
Puni Puni Poemi (if you like Excel Saga)
Naruto
Wolf’s Rain (if you like Cowboy Bebop)
RahXephon
Boogie Pop Phantom (if you like Serial Experiment Lain)
Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai (if you like FLCL)
Azumanga Daioh
Niea under 7
Hellsing
That’s all I can think of right now but I can come up with more. I could also narrow them down if I knew more about what type stuff you prefer.
Let me know if you want me to go into more detail on anything.
PS. Rurouni Kenshin: The second story arc was good, the other 3 arcs are crap and not worth your time. Watch the first four OVA’s though, they are really well done. The sixth OVA is good too but most Kenshin fans don’t like it.
OVA?
Hmm. That’s odd. I can’t just post “OVA?” Apparently its too short. I hope this is better.
OVA is the Japanese equivalent of direct-to-video. Think of the second Lion King movie or the third Aladdin movie by Disney.
OVA == Original Video Animation. Another term for it is OAV (Original Animated Video). I prefer the latter, as it doesn’t suggest that one is talking about Latin eggs.
OAVs are about halfway between movies and TV series for budget/production quality and content of objectional…content.
Okay, so as far as the Lupin III goes… is that a series in and of itself? Is it just a character in a bunch of separate series? Is it just a movie?
I’ve also seen a lot on Naruto. Any quick info on that?
What I really like about anime in general is the fact that the medium itself is very liberating. You can do stuff with it that would look ridiculous with live action. American animation is still pretty far behind on some aspects, like most serious animations. Obviously, there are exceptions, but I don’t know, I guess I like any anime that is kinda pushing boundaries. I liked FLCL because it was so many kinds of styles and efforts. I liked Cowboy Bebop because of the great story and characters.
Are their other .hack cartoons? I was under the impression that the others were only games.
[QUOTE=audiobottle]
Okay, so as far as the Lupin III goes… is that a series in and of itself? Is it just a character in a bunch of separate series? Is it just a movie?
QUOTE]
Actually, it’s a bunch of series and movies, all dealing with the same 5 characters. Lupin, the grandson of the French Arsene Lupin, Jigen Daisuke, best gunshot in Japan, Ishikawa Goemon, the descendant of the Japanese equivalent of Robin Hood, and Fujiko Mine, femme fatale supreme. They are being chased by Inspector Zenigata, who’s made it his life’s goal to put Lupin behind bars.
There have actually been several series. The first one was pretty old and aired back in the early 70’s. It hasn’t aged that well, but is still pretty watchable if you can make it through the first 5 episodes. It’s also pretty hard to find, at least in America. It only aired for 23ish episodes (I have them all on tape but I’m way too lazy to count them ;).
The second series came out in the late 70’s and is the one you’re familiar with from Cartoon Network. It is, imo, the best Lupin out there. It’s all episodic–there aren’t any story arcs that I know of. There’s a grand total of maybe 163 episodes in that.
One thing to keep an eye out for are the two episodes by Hayao Miyazaki (animator of Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Mononoke, etc). Those episodes are fantastic. Even if you don’t like Lupin that much, it’s worth hunting them down. Since Geneon/Pioneer has the rights to them, they will come out over here on dvd eventually. They are well worth the wait.
After that show wrapped up, there was one more Lupin series in the mid 80’s which was, by all reports, awful. I haven’t been able to find any episodes myself, and frankly, I’m afraid to. 
The rest of the Lupin out there is in the form of movies and tv specials. Most are, at the very least, very boring (Mystery of the Twilight Gemini, Dragon of Doom). Some are downright awful (Napoleon’s Dictionary gag). The first movie was the Mystery of Mamo (not that great, very slow, and way too long); the most recent came out…last year. Of the movies and specials, the best are The Castle of Cagliostro, The Fuma Conspiracy and First Contact. The first two are out on DVD over here–Manga has Castle, Fuma is released by Animeigo and will probably have to be ordered over the internet since their distribution doesn’t seem to reach Best Buy and other common anime stores. First Contact hasn’t been picked up over here–you’d have to get the Hong Kong bootleg. Unlike most bootlegs, it’s pretty decent quality. The english subbing isn’t too broken and there aren’t any noticeable technical flaws.
There’ve also been a number of video games; I can think of 5 off the top of my head–there’s probably been a hell of a lot more.
Jesus, that ran on a long distance. Guess I’m more of a Lupin nut than I thought.
elfkin477, as far as I’ve seen from looking over the internet, there seems to be three? of the .hack series. There’s the .hack//sign, .hack//dusk, and maybe .hack//liminal-something. I could be wrong… I’m pretty sure that at least the last one was a game. Or maybe it was the second one I said. In any case, I’m pretty sure they all take part at different times, and I’m almost positive that .hack//sign is the oldest one, chronologically.
.hack//Liminality is the series that comes with the .hack games.
I’d recommend Evangelion, then. It has complex story and characters, and FLCL is mostly a satire of it (with a little parody of His and Her Circumstances and Revolutionary Girl Utena thrown in as well).
I’d also recommend Utena. It’s a very wierd shoujo anime about a girl trapped in a generic fairy tale gone horribly, horribly wrong.
I’ve had Excel Saga recommended to me, but I haven’t seen it. I’ve been told it’s “many kinds of styles” as well – each episode pokes fun at a different anime genre.
If your tastes run to action, I could recommend Gensomaden Saiyuki. Not the greatest I’ve seen, but quite a lot of fun. It’s about a monk and three demons who cross modern China and India, looking for a sacred scripture.
That is correct. At the start of episodes Koshi Rikdo, the creator of the Excel Saga manga (which I guess came first - ???), appears on-screen to state something along the lines of (for instance) “I, Koshi Rikudo, give my permission for Excel Saga to be done as a sports anime”, and that’s how the rest of that episode is done. And, as I noted earlier in the thread, tons of other things are parodied within each episode.
BUT, in some of the later episodes, the writers of the anime (who appear on-screen themselves at the start of some episodes) override Rikdo and declare the style of the episode themselves. All of which just contributes to the overall goofiness.
Personally, I really liked Martian Successor Nadesico. It’s not serious anime - it’s campy, silly, a bit predictable…but I thought it was great. I was actually laughing out loud in places. The dub is pretty good, too. Plus, I got it cheap, it was $60 at best buy (as opposed to $100 at FYE or $120 at Suncoast).
FWIW, I loved Cowboy Bebop and hated Evangelion.
It is about ninjas, gotta have those ninjas. Seriously, it is a action anime set in feudal/fantasy japan. The story is the standard “young mystery orphan turns out to be uber powerful and fights lots of people for one reason or another” but what is excellent about this series is the fights themselves. The plot is not bad but the main attraction is the excellent battles.
Hmm, you might want to watch Perfect Blue to see the the wide range of stories available in anime. Also try to find Millennium Actress if you can but I don’t think it’s available stateside yet.