What's the best Anime Series Out there?

Cafe Society
1

Okay, I’m not entirely a virgin to anime. I’ve seen and enjoyed
Cowboy Bebop
Akira
Read or Die
Full Metal Alchemist
Death Note
Code Geass

I’ve seen the big anime movies like
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Perfect Blue

I mostly enjoyed with some reservations
High School of the Dead
Another
Future Diary

But there’s freaking mountains of this stuff! More anime
than one person can possibly consume. Looking for
more recommendations on what to see. Pretty much
open to anything, but I do like the dark and quirky
a hell of a lot more than the cute romance confused
genders stuff. I’ve looked online for Best of List and
they keep tossing out Cowboy Bebop and Death Note
and I’m hoping the Straight Dope Anime Fans can help
create a more interesting list.

Much thanks in advance!

2

Reported for forum change.

Najica Blitz Tactics.

3

Yakitate! Japan!! is the only anime I’ve ever truly liked and the only one I’ve ever watched all the way through. But it’s not dark and gritty at all. Rather, it’s basically one big, hilarious parody of anime tropes.

4

Sora No Woto is a fairly short series (14 episodes including bonus ones) but its quite enjoyable. Basically All Quiet on the Western Front with teenage girls.

5

Does Avatar: the last Airbender count? That should get an HM. If not, Astroboy!

6

Moving from IMHO to Cafe Society.

7

I’ve gotta say, the best anime I’ve ever seen, and still watching, must be the new Tron Uprising series.

8

The anime Monster is probably up your alley, its pretty dark and has a lot of plot to it.

Besides Death Note and Code Geass, my favourite anime series are The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (my absolute favourite!), Reign: the Conqueror (a retelling of Alexander the Great), and Serial Experiments Lain (dark and computery).

9

I know shounen isn’t highly regarded, but the first 65 or so episodes of Bleach were awesome. The background score in particular really kicks ass. The series goes downhill very fast after that though. And the manga is currently plumbing unimaginable depths. Samurai Champloo by Shinichiro Watanabe - the same guy who did Cowboy Bebop - is probably my favourite anime series. if you like dark and quirky then the movie for you would be Ninja Scroll. I’m surprised you haven’t already seen it in fact.
ETA: Ghost in the shell: Stand alone complex. Widely acclaimed, and for good reason.

10

**Hellsing **was my first anime I got into and what got me hooked on anime. So out of nastalgia it’s still kind of my favorite. It’s about a vampire that sides with the people who hunt vampires and other baddies.

Some of my other faves:

One Piece - goofy pirates who kick ass.

Trigun - kind of goofy guy who kicks a lot of ass. Goes by the name Vash the Stampede, also known as The Humanoid Typhoon, and has a bounty on his head of 60 billion double dollars. Kind of westernish.

Early** Bleach** is good.

.hack/sign - an anime that is mostly about people inside an MMO game. It actually got me to try out an MMO and I’ve been hooked ever since.

11

I’ve heard lots of good things about Legend of Galactic Heroes which seems to part Star Wars and part historical drama epic IN SPACE.

12

Based on what you’ve liked you should check out Higurashi.

Unfortunately, only the first series got a commercial translation (titled Higurashi: When They Cry), so you won’t get the full story from that, but it does end on a mostly satisfying note even without the second.

Also, if you liked Read or Die, I suggest ROD the TV. The first half (which I prefer) is a Very Very Different series, set in the same universe with a very different set of characters. The second half builds upon the OAV (and shifts the focus from the Paper Sisters onto the Read or Die characters, who are generally a lot less interesting to me, but, oh well).

13

Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It looks like it’s going to be a series about cute magical girls, but the cute magical girls turn out to be part of a dark and quirky universe.

14

FLCL

It’s the only anime series I like enough to own.

15

Ghost in the Shell (the movie) and Ghost in the Shell: SAC (the TV series) are two of my all-times favorites.

If you liked Perfect Blue, check out the other works of director Satoshi Kon. Millenium Actress is my favorite of the bunch.

As for works that aren’t really similar to what you listed, but are still my favorites: My Neighbor Totoro (beautiful, sweet, magical children’s film), Azumanga Daioh (goofy high-school comedy), and Grave of the Fireflies (prepare to be depressed).

16

Samurai Jack :slight_smile:

17

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to keep up with anime selections. As an example, I’ve only seen a couple of your top rated series you listed. Having said that, here are a couple older series I like to recommend.

Patlabor - A series that I’ve heard best described as being Hill Street Blues with giant robots. It focuses on a police squad in a (then) future Tokyo where construction robots had been instrumental for a major land reclamation project in Tokyo Bay. Generally excellent SF, with decent characterization. There are two versions: an OAV series with about seven episodes; and a 48 episode TV series, followed by another OAV series - then with two movies set in the TV continuity. Expect goofiness, but some good story plots, as well.

Neon Genesis Evangelion starts off seeming to be another standard giant robot TV series, then takes a left turn into surreal and floors the accelerator. It does build slowly from that beginning. For me, it was episode six when it became impossible to deny that what I’d thought was going on was very much in error. A wild ride, and the ending is a bit bizarre. Still something I recommend.

Nadia Secret of Blue Water is a send up of Jules Verne, taking and filling in around the basic inspiration of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. (If you saw the Disney animated movie, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, you’ll recognize several inspirations for the Disney film from this series.)

For just plain entertaining silliness, I can’t recommend the Magic User’s Club OAV series highly enough. There are some spots where I find the humor a bit uncomfortable, but generally a very touching, and positive shojo story. Oddly enough, about an alien invasion. Not dark and quirky, but def. quirky.

I’ll second the recommendation that infinitii made for Irresponsible Captain Tylor, something of a send up of a popular live-action TV show in Japan at the time, and standard space opera. You’ll spend the whole series wondering whether Tylor is that lucky or that good. I’ll also second The Hamster King’s suggestion of FLCL. It’s a mind-fuck of a series, but fun.

Other series I like that I won’t offer plot synopses for: several of the Gundam series range from good to awesome. In no particular order: Zeta Gundam; Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket; Gundam 0083: Stardust Memories; and Gundam Wing and Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. Kishin Heidan. Ushio to Tora.

18

I second Hellsing and Trigun.

I think Darker than black and gungrave may be up your alley. If you haven’t seen full metal alchemist: brotherhood I’d watch that too, still not sure which is my favourite.

Some of my favourites (no particular order):
[ul]
[li]**Scrapped Princess:**If the princes dies the world will end, her brother and sister help her. You get the idea. Her sister is some sort of magician (but magic is just super advanced tech in this world)[/li][li]**Gungrave:**About 2 friends (small-time criminals) who join a criminal syndicate. First episode doesn’t make much sense, give it a chance, it’s definitely worth it. Gets a bit sc-fi-ish. One of my all time favourites.[/li][li]Howl’s moving castle: It’s a movie about war and wizards and spells and orphans and stuff.[/li][li]The girl who leapt through time: Movie about a teenage girl who finds herself with the ability to leap through time[/li][/ul]

I’m too sleepy/lazy to list the rest but here’smy list.

19

Neon Genesis Evangelion

20

IMO, you cannot call yourself a real anime fan without having seen Evangelion.

I’m also not your typical weeaboo, so my must watch list will be different than everyone else’s:

Escaflowne - girl gets transported into another world, blah blah blah but gorgeous animation, fantasy giant robots, and an amazing soundtrack from the woman who did Cowboy Bebop’s music.

Gankutsuou - Retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. Notable for being a total mindfuck and having artwork that you will either completely love or hate upon seeing it.

X (tv series, not movie) - Really, just as a portal into the manga. Most guys will overlook it because it’s made by CLAMP (who also did the character designs for Code Geass). The anime had to make up its own ending which doesn’t do the manga justice, but the series still blows my mind. Basically, it’s an apocalyptic story between two groups: those trying to destroy life on earth and those trying to save it. Throw in some religious philosophy, angelic metaphors, and a deadly soundtrack.

I also recommend Hellsing, listed upthread, but go for Hellsing Ultimate, fewer episodes, much better production values! And more manga plots.

I’ve been procrastinating on LoGH but watched its little brother, Tytania, from the same creator and loved it so much.