Anime Recommendations

[Trikkur]

I'm not 100% sure what you are saying. Are you saying that you just can't get into anime?

If that's the case there are multiple reasons why that could be.

Subtitles vs Dubs - A lot of newer anime viewers will only watched dubbed anime (enlgish voice actors) but it's really not the way to watch it. The anime loses a lot of it's intensity when it's transferred to english because it becomes more of a "kids show".

If you are watching subtitles and don't like it. That could be because you just started doing the whole subtitlte thing. I felt mentally exhausted and couldn't focus on watching the anime when I first started subtitles. That get's better and sooner or later you don't even realize you are reading subtitles anymore. BTW, japanese voice actors are so insanely better than american for animes, I can't watch an english anime anymore. In Japan it's considered more of an honor to be an anime voice actor, not so much in the US though.

Find your niche - Animes aren't limited to just a few genres. There are thousands and thousands of animes out there spreading every possible genre you could imagine. As you can see just through this thread, a lot of us argue over what animes we like. Give us a few genres you like. What sort of books do you read, movies watched, etc. It really only takes 1 great anime to get you hooked on how much better they are than movies and tv shows. Right now my girlfriend has fought her way through 3 or so animes and while she liked them she didn't get hooked yet. It's really just finding that first one that you are like "holy shit this is so good".

I would say give Death Note a try if you want a very intelectually thought out plot driven anime, but if you want something that is more similar to Lord of the Rings, or Ninjas or Pirates, or dumb comedy or w/e the hell you like, between all of us we can probably match it for you.

Theres a ton more reasons, but until I know exactly what issues you are having, I won't be able to help.

[Vantek]

Hehe, well I'm an Estonian (if you even know what that is) so 1) up to a few years ago (until I became fluent enough in English to watch movies without translation and also with my PC becoming my main film player rather than the TV and VHS) subtitles were the default rather than the exception 2) I will never, never, ever watch anything dubbed, ever. Dubbing is the main source of all evil that exists in this world. I would rather join the Church of Scientology than watch something dubbed.

My problem with Code Geass was... Well I can't really put my finger on it, otherwise I would've said it already! Um... I feel silly saying unrealistic because fantasy is what I'm looking for in it in the first place. It's.. Artificial? Exaggerated? Inconsistent? Does any of this ring a bell? People pause in a deathfight to throw punchlines at each other. Before "killing" someone, villains feel the need to give a thorough explanation as to what they think of that charachter and why they are killing him, which often leads to a third party showing up "just in time" and helping him escape. And it's always rivering a monster or getting rivered holding a monster, never something actually realistic like mid pair vs underpair with a lot of checking going on. Everything that has already been established in the story and fictional world is thrown out of the window without hesitation whenever the creators feel the need for another plot twist, without any explanation whatsoever. Charachters' traits, mechanics of the world, everything. Since the cartoon bets on serious themes and tragedy, all this doesn't work out well. This isn't just a problem of Code Geass or anime, obviously, but the vast majority of all work of fiction that has been created ever. Based on all previous experience I assumed that's what series anime is supposed to be though, and since Code Geass is, as you say, as good as it gets, I thought my assumption confirmed... No?

Even so, now that I think about it I have actually been amused by this cartoon. It's kind of cool at times, even, some of the cliches make me laugh out loud and also it's just fascinating as something completely different from what I'm used to. I think I will watch series 2 also, it makes a comfortable mean to spend time when I happen to be tired and don't feel like actually doing anything yet would be bored to or cannot just lie down and rest either.

Anyway, what I hoped to find in anime at this moment was extravagant fantasy. I mean Code Geass, as well as I assume loads and loads of anime, hits the extravagant fantasy part alright (and I'd wager that's a big reason why you're watching it?), it's the other areas I find them to be lacking in. I assumed most anime has lavish fantasy, turns out I'm wrong I guess, you mean there's lots of it without?

As for what exactly I'm looking for, it's hard to bring relevant examples, because lavish fantasy that doesn't suffer from those problems I keep bitching about is extremely rare (which is also why I am so eager to find more). LotR is the only perfect example I can think of, really. But note that it's not the precise setting that matters to me so much, it's more the elements OTHER than the setting. I.e LotR I happen to like not because of the setting, but it's very good as an adventure, an epic war story, has simple human drama really (they're all humans if you think about it, aren't they?), in film form has awfully good action. I mean so far it is the same as Saving Private Ryan for all I care, both very good in the same ways. And then, yes, it has very creative fantasy to it - whereas it's not that important which form exactly this creativity happens to take. Could be space opera, could be mecha, could be ninjas or pirates - whatever, as long as it's very creative fantasy.

Let's see for more examples... From the sci-fi side, I liked Matrix, but it suffered from those same old issues. There is this very peculiar 80s movie I totally randomly landed on, Excalibur and it was actually surprisingly good, it did get hysteric in the end but I recommend it to anyone who likes LotR style fantasy. For some reason, I haven't seen the first three (or should I say, the last) Star Wars movies, only the newer ones (I-III), and while I absolutely adore the creativity and audiovisual experience, the plot side of them ranged from pathetic to weak in my opinion. Oh, Stardust was great, even, but it was almost a comedy. Equilibrium wasn't that that bad but it was flawed.

There's a lot of examples of lavish fantasy I loved from computer games though, because they have gameplay to carry you through the fantasy setting, and also I used to play them a lot as a kid (while I didn't have access to movies or TV series) when my expectation was lower so I grew fond of the whole business. Heroes of Might and Magic 1-3, Might & Magic 6-7, Diablo 1-2, Age of Wonders 1-2, Age of Mythology (the audiovisual side of this was amazingly beautiful), Seven Kingdoms 1-2, Thief: Dark Project, Warcraft, Blood and Magic; from the scifi side Total Annihilation (some songs from the soundtrack blow my mind), X-COM, Half-Life, Fallout, Dune (yes, that very first DOS game); these and many more somehow have managed to make me enjoy their fantasy setting much more than most of the movies or books.

Does it make sense? :P Can you make out what I'm looking for now? Any recommendations?

I have seen Mononoke but it was so long ago I hardly remember anything. I will watch it again one day, as well as the other things by the same guy (he did Spirited Away as well, right?), but I want to do it in high quality and with right timing, because there's a decent chance I will really like these.

I would say give Death Note a try if you want a very intelectually thought out plot driven anime

Does it have fantasy?

And now let me say, HOLY SH!T what a behemoth of a post I've written. I truly am a master of procrastination. I have an exam on Thursday.

[Trikkur]

I will respond to everything specifically later on, but go watch Death Note. It has a similar story line to Code Geass where the main character gains a power and decides he wants to control the world with it, but it terms of story line it's extremely tight. And it also is more "real" than most animes.

[Vantek]

Should I watch the series or the movie?

[Trikkur]

Series. The movie is live actors and is a slightly different story line.

Actually right now I'm tackling your mega post, give me a few minutes.

[Trikkur]

My problem with Code Geass was... Well I can't really put my finger on it, otherwise I would've said it already! Um... I feel silly saying unrealistic because fantasy is what I'm looking for in it in the first place. It's.. Artificial? Exaggerated? Inconsistent? Does any of this ring a bell? People pause in a deathfight to throw punchlines at each other. Before "killing" someone, villains feel the need to give a thorough explanation as to what they think of that charachter and why they are killing him, which often leads to a third party showing up "just in time" and helping him escape.

This makes sense, but it happens because it's a very big cliche in all fantasy. Same stuff happens in LOTR, people show up just in time to save the hero from impending doom. I will admit it happens in Code Geass enough that it gets annoying though. I didn't watch that anime for the battle scenes though, I loved the politcal and psychologial parts of it. I also loved watching the development of Lelouch and those themes get even better in season 2.

And it's always rivering a monster or getting rivered holding a monster, never something actually realistic like mid pair vs underpair with a lot of checking going on. Everything that has already been established in the story and fictional world is thrown out of the window without hesitation whenever the creators feel the need for another plot twist, without any explanation whatsoever. Charachters' traits, mechanics of the world, everything. Since the cartoon bets on serious themes and tragedy, all this doesn't work out well. This isn't just a problem of Code Geass or anime, obviously, but the vast majority of all work of fiction that has been created ever. Based on all previous experience I assumed that's what series anime is supposed to be though, and since Code Geass is, as you say, as good as it gets, I thought my assumption confirmed... No?

I think I understand what you are getting at here. Everything is always so blown out of proportion, the most extreme circumstances, crazy stuff happening. None of it feels like it could "really" happen. As you said though, this is sort of the downfall to the "fantasy" genre. I'm a huge fantasy buff and love wizards, dragons, ninjas, elves, etc and of course none of it's "real". Though I also do think some stuff is done better that makes you feel like "Well if wizards actually existed, this could happen". Take for example the Harry Potter series. I feel like these are a lot more real than many other wizarding fantasy books. If there was such things as magic and wizards, I think Harry Potter could definitely be true. I probably sound crazy, but hopefully I make some sense.

Now, there are solutions to this realism problem you are having. When I get into the mood of wanting to watch realism, I don't watch fantasy anime even though it's my favorite. I'll watch something a little more drama or psychological based. My #2 favorite anime is Hikaru No Go. In this anime the whole plot is driven by a Japanese kid playing Go (a board game similar to checkers/chess) as a pro. Sure, there is a ghost to help drive the story line, but it's a lot more realistic than something like Naruto. The beauty of anime to me is I can find an anime that matches my mood at the time. I also mix in plenty of real tv shows like Always Sunny in Philadelphia or whatever to help satisfy those interests. Unfortunately until you get more accustomed to the anime world, you are kind of blindly fumbling around trying to find niches that you like and the styles that you want to watch.

Even so, now that I think about it I have actually been amused by this cartoon. It's kind of cool at times, even, some of the cliches make me laugh out loud and also it's just fascinating as something completely different from what I'm used to. I think I will watch series 2 also, it makes a comfortable mean to spend time when I happen to be tired and don't feel like actually doing anything yet would be bored to or cannot just lie down and rest either.

There are definatley times that while watching an anime I think it's good, but nothing exceptional. Then after I'm done watching it and think back about it a day or two later, I'm like holy shit that was amazing. That's actually what happened to me with my favorite anime ever "Hunter X Hunter" I watched it and really liked it but the more and more I think about it, the better it becomes. I still highly recommend watching R2, but take some time off and find some other stuff if you want. The anime world has plenty of options.

Anyway, what I hoped to find in anime at this moment was extravagant fantasy. I mean Code Geass, as well as I assume loads and loads of anime, hits the extravagant fantasy part alright (and I'd wager that's a big reason why you're watching it?), it's the other areas I find them to be lacking in. I assumed most anime has lavish fantasy, turns out I'm wrong I guess, you mean there's lots of it without?

If you are looking for extravagent fantasy, then you might not actually want to watch Death Note right now. If you really want to get lord of the rings, etc I'll recommend a few for you in a bit.

As for what exactly I'm looking for, it's hard to bring relevant examples, because lavish fantasy that doesn't suffer from those problems I keep bitching about is extremely rare (which is also why I am so eager to find more). LotR is the only perfect example I can think of, really. But note that it's not the precise setting that matters to me so much, it's more the elements OTHER than the setting. I.e LotR I happen to like not because of the setting, but it's very good as an adventure, an epic war story, has simple human drama really (they're all humans if you think about it, aren't they?), in film form has awfully good action. I mean so far it is the same as Saving Private Ryan for all I care, both very good in the same ways. And then, yes, it has very creative fantasy to it - whereas it's not that important which form exactly this creativity happens to take. Could be space opera, could be mecha, could be ninjas or pirates - whatever, as long as it's very creative fantasy.

Let's see for more examples... From the sci-fi side, I liked Matrix, but it suffered from those same old issues. There is this very peculiar 80s movie I totally randomly landed on, Excalibur and it was actually surprisingly good, it did get hysteric in the end but I recommend it to anyone who likes LotR style fantasy. For some reason, I haven't seen the first three (or should I say, the last) Star Wars movies, only the newer ones (I-III), and while I absolutely adore the creativity and audiovisual experience, the plot side of them ranged from pathetic to weak in my opinion. Oh, Stardust was great, even, but it was almost a comedy. Equilibrium wasn't that that bad but it was flawed.

There's a lot of examples of lavish fantasy I loved from computer games though, because they have gameplay to carry you through the fantasy setting, and also I used to play them a lot as a kid (while I didn't have access to movies or TV series) when my expectation was lower so I grew fond of the whole business. Heroes of Might and Magic 1-3, Might & Magic 6-7, Diablo 1-2, Age of Wonders 1-2, Age of Mythology (the audiovisual side of this was amazingly beautiful), Seven Kingdoms 1-2, Thief: Dark Project, Warcraft, Blood and Magic; from the scifi side Total Annihilation (some songs from the soundtrack blow my mind), X-COM, Half-Life, Fallout, Dune (yes, that very first DOS game); these and many more somehow have managed to make me enjoy their fantasy setting much more than most of the movies or books.

Does it make sense? :P Can you make out what I'm looking for now? Any recommendations?

I have seen Mononoke but it was so long ago I hardly remember anything. I will watch it again one day, as well as the other things by the same guy (he did Spirited Away as well, right?), but I want to do it in high quality and with right timing, because there's a decent chance I will really like these.

Ok, I think I understand a lot of you likes because they are similar to mine. Good news is there is a lot of jaw dropping fantasy animes out there. I was recommending Death Note after first reading yoru post because it seemed like you wanted something that was more realistic with a really tight story line, but I see you want something totally fatasied out, which should be my specialty.

Ok, you have a few really solid options to choose from. Honestly I'm putting way more thought into this than you could imagine. I'm always afraid of recommending animes to starters because I'm so worried abotu giving them one they don't like and then they give up on anime. I'll give you a few words of wisdom when it comes to 99% of animes though. You have to watch more than the first 5-10 episodes especially with longer animes 50+ episodes. Since a lot of the larger ones have so many characters, there has to be a lot of character development before you really get into everyone.

I originally had a big list of options here for you to check out, but then I felt like the more options I gave you would make it more overwhelming. Hopefully some other people can chime in, but I think for what you are looking for, I would suggest Fullmetal Alchemist. It pains me to not recommend Hunter x Hunter, but Fullmetal Alchemist was actually the anime that got me started into all this. We have very similar tastes and I loved this one.

I keep trying to submit posts, but it's telling me I typed too many characters and I have to delete stuff.

[Vantek]

Wow, thanks for all that effort helping me get into anime! ^_^

I'm already way into R2, episode 13 I think. It's decent entertainment. Not the least because... lol what the hell is up with those ridiculous butt views?? Already the weird angles of women in knightmares were suspicious, but then C.C laying down in her underwear and a pretty much closeup of her ass with a nice camel toe showing? And then on the other hand Ougi, a battle-hardened veteran soldier, was embarrased by a naked woman? XD this is hilarious! The japs are such a bunch of pervs.

This makes sense, but it happens because it's a very big cliche in all fantasy.

It's not just fantasy, actually, but like a whole big part of fiction, and anything in a fantasy setting usually happens to fall under that part. A lot, or rather, most, or rather, almost all action or adventure movies that are set in real world also have the same to a bigger or lesser extent. I don't think fantasy necessarily has to have it at all, though, and I'm sad that there is so little (or should we say, none) that is without. I would LOVE fantasy to have things along the lines of an important charachter getting killed by a random lucky arrow shot by the most insignificant enemy soldier ever, or getting trampled by a randomly gone crazy horse, or dying of cholera, and ugly and frustrating and random stuff so on, just like it happens to other charachters in the setting. Even just getting killed in battle doesn't happen often to important charachters, unless it's like the most important battle ever. But it really should. At this rate, I'm going to have to start writing fantasy myself ^_^

Same stuff happens in LOTR, people show up just in time to save the hero from impending doom.

Actually well yeah, it does. But I guess out of all lavish fantasy, LOTR is one that has the least of it, or at least in the most credible way. When they do the unbelievable it is at least because of the exceptional power or wisdom that was known for the reader/viewer beforehand, not just exceptionally good luck. When they show up to save the hero from impending doom, it's usually because they had been keeping an eye on him or even working hard in order to save him from the beginning, rarely because due to a lucky chance they happened to be there. While in Code Geass the latter is like the standard in every episode, and people just show up and surprise even the endangered person.

I didn't watch that anime for the battle scenes though, I loved the politcal and psychologial parts of it. I also loved watching the development of Lelouch and those themes get even better in season 2.

I am kind of having trouble relating to the charachters because they think and act so weird or nonsensical. I can't help but feel Lelouch himself is a loony. A world where Nunnally can live in peace?? What the hell man! She was doing just fine until you threw the place into full blown war! How on EARTH are you helping her with that?

I think I understand what you are getting at here. Everything is always so blown out of proportion, the most extreme circumstances, crazy stuff happening. None of it feels like it could "really" happen. As you said though, this is sort of the downfall to the "fantasy" genre. I'm a huge fantasy buff and love wizards, dragons, ninjas, elves, etc and of course none of it's "real". Though I also do think some stuff is done better that makes you feel like "Well if wizards actually existed, this could happen".

I think yes you do understand what I was getting at there, because that feeling is EXACTLY what I am looking for!! And it's soooo rarely that I get it. Like I said, it is not a problem of fantasy actually: LotR gave me this feeling but a lot of action movies (and I don't mean just because they're bad, some quality productions have this) that are set in the actual real world, with nothing supernatural to them, actually have less credibility. I'm having trouble thinking of examples though because I haven't watched any classic Hollywood action in a long time so none of the memories are fresh.

Take for example the Harry Potter series. I feel like these are a lot more real than many other wizarding fantasy books. If there was such things as magic and wizards, I think Harry Potter could definitely be true. I probably sound crazy, but hopefully I make some sense.

XD it's soooo ironic how you would bring Harry Potter as an example of this though, because to me HP is the incarnation of complete lack of credibility XD Very creative, very clever, but not believable in the SLIGHTEST. The whole book series is TEEMING with inconsistencies along the lines of, what the hell is preventing them all to cure myopia with magic so they won't need to wear glasses?? Even muggus (or whatever you spell it) can do that with lazor technology! If you can fix broken glasses with a simple spell, then breaking something whatever object should be a problem like, never! If you can transform a button into a bug or a table into a pig, how can any purely material object, like, say, food cost anything at all?? What stops you from transforming a table into a pile of gold?? Why the hell would you use a goddamn broom, out of all objects, as flying vehicle?? A broom has no more to do with flying as an armchair or bed, might as well choose somethign that doesn't rape your butt when you ride it! If you were to guard a certain powerful object from falling into wrong hands, would you REALLY do it by setting up a whole bunch of LUDICROUS ELABORATE TESTS, while absolutely anyone can actually walk in and start solving them?? Would you really not just seal it into an impenetrable room and put some motherflipping powerful magical ward on it...??? Et cetera et cetera ad infinitum. And now in THIS specific case somehow it actually ends up not being a problem, because the idea is BUILT on it and every inconsistency is so hilarious or ludicriously creative that you end up EMBRACING the lack of credibility, but how you can say that Harry Potter feels like it could actually be true is beyond me XD

Now, there are solutions to this realism problem you are having. When I get into the mood of wanting to watch realism, I don't watch fantasy anime even though it's my favorite. I'll watch something a little more drama or psychological based.

But I don't want realism, I still want fantasy! Just credible one :P

I originally had a big list of options here for you to check out, but then I felt like the more options I gave you would make it more overwhelming. Hopefully some other people can chime in, but I think for what you are looking for, I would suggest Fullmetal Alchemist. It pains me to not recommend Hunter x Hunter, but Fullmetal Alchemist was actually the anime that got me started into all this. We have very similar tastes and I loved this one.

Okay, once I'm through Code Geass R2, I will check it out! Thanks for the help!

One more thing that intrigues me... The outlandish Japanese humour. See, there was this Japanese comedy I totally randomly happened to see on a crazy programme once: Minna-Yatteruka It was the most hilarious thing I had ever seen. My stomach muscles literally got tired and sore from all the laughing. It was also nothing like anything I had ever seen. It's by Takeshy Kitano, out of all people, known for his sordid gangster movies. It rates pretty low at IMDB. It's tough to bring a comparison from western productions, I can only think of the more absurd parts of Scary Movies and (other) Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker movies, maybe Monty Python, Kurt Vonnegut perhaps? Anyway I've also seen some similarly hilarious stuff in Code Geass even so I thought maybe there's anime of this type and maybe you could help me find it?

I've managed to find a clip which made me cry while watching the movie, it's probably not nearly as funny on its own though:

YouTube - Kitano's First Zatoichi

[Trikkur]

I'm already way into R2, episode 13 I think. It's decent entertainment. Not the least because... lol what the hell is up with those ridiculous butt views?? Already the weird angles of women in knightmares were suspicious, but then C.C laying down in her underwear and a pretty much closeup of her ass with a nice camel toe showing? And then on the other hand Ougi, a battle-hardened veteran soldier, was embarrassed by a naked woman? XD this is hilarious! The japs are such a bunch of pervs.

The japanese do have a much different view of what's allowed for their TV shows. Apparently that episode was dedicated to the fans and they gave out a bunch of pantsu shots for them lol.

I am kind of having trouble relating to the characters because they think and act so weird or nonsensical. I can't help but feel Lelouch himself is a loony. A world where Nunnally can live in peace?? What the hell man! She was doing just fine until you threw the place into full blown war! How on EARTH are you helping her with that?

Another member said the same thing about Lelouch until the ending and you start to see what his mindset is and what he was trying to get out. I'm not going to go more in depth than this, but I was able to connect with him and understand what he was attempting.

Harry Potter Stuff

I knew this would get chewed up when I posted it, but I think me and you have differing opinions on what magic would actually be if it existed. If it's going to be that nitpicky, you are going to have problems believing most fantasy. Have you read the Twilight series about vampires? It's about to be released into theaters, but the series might be something you enjoy. The writing isn't the best, but I like vampire fantasy (I hate most vampire animes though). It attempts to stick vampires into human culture without disrupting the world too much.

Comedy Stuff

I'm getting this movie now, thanks for the suggestion.

[Vantek]

I knew this would get chewed up when I posted it, but I think me and you have differing opinions on what magic would actually be if it existed.

I still think it's just simple logic not what the magic is like, but of course in the end it's all down to personal opinion. I don't mean to tear down anything, just to explain my opinion.

If it's going to be that nitpicky, you are going to have problems believing most fantasy.

Well yes, that's the problem I'm having

Have you read the Twilight series about vampires? It's about to be released into theaters, but the series might be something you enjoy. The writing isn't the best, but I like vampire fantasy (I hate most vampire animes though). It attempts to stick vampires into human culture without disrupting the world too much.

I don't actually read books anymore for some reason :O I have read like four fiction books in the past three years, IIRC the last was Starship Troopers which I read last winter. For some reason they just don't excite me anymore Some years ago I read Eragon and just COMPLETELY lost all interest when there were just two chapters left, and never finished it XD

I'm getting this movie now, thanks for the suggestion.

: D are you a fan of absurd humour as well? I think I am going to watch this movie again as well as another Kitano's comedy Kantoku Banzai! XD

YouTube - Bizarre Scene From Glory To The Filmmaker - Takeshi Kitano

YouTube - Kantoku Banzai Ninja scene

[sandervb]

shippuuden episode of this week is just...wow, fking incredible