So it seems a few people are looking for a thread where they can get advice about anime and manga or share their favorites so here it is! Oh before I begin just to clear things up for people who don't know much about anime or manga... First off, yes anime is japanese would also include american cartoons I'm talking about japanese cartoons so this doesn't include things like family guy, tom and jerry, spongebob or anything else made in america. Anime = Cartoons Manga = Graphic novels Here are my favorites Instead of throwing things in later in the thread I am just going to keep updating the OP with series and movies anime Excel saga (26 episodes) - silly, weird, good stuff Dokuro-chan (7 episodes) - Also silly and weird, this one is tough to find though, check youtube. edit: how could I forget! FLCL (6 episodes) - this is the weirdest series I've ever seen, I think it came out in the 90s please correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway it is actually a pilot for another series, it's got robots, aliens, guitars, kittens and all sorts of strange things. It's a quick watch but it's fun and might leave you a little confused. It also has a good 2 book manga. The two above animes have very little in the way of plot or substance but they are fun to watch if you've got the time. Bleach (197 and counting episodes) - Fighting, ghosts, cute girls, and a downhill plot after episode 64, I'd suggest watching up to that point but if you really want to go past that have fun wading through a big pile of bad filler episodes. Hellsing OVAs (not sure how many episodes right now) - This is the 2nd attempt at a Helling anime, almost everything that the manga is, bloody violent fan service with nazis. I do not recommend watching this series without reading the manga first. The original hellsing attempt (13 episodes) is a disaster of a series that needs to be avoided at all costs. If you're interested in checking out hellsing which you should be because it is pure genius then you should read the 9 book manga, they are about $14 each book but sometimes you can find them in a library, or you can be like a lot of people and just read them in the bookstore. Although I have a feeling after a book or two you'll want to own the series. Full Metal Alchemist (51 episodes and a movie) - I do not know where to start, this is my favorite anime. It made me cry more then once and it just pulls on every emotion at one point or another. It has magic, fighting, cute little kids, 2 scary girls and some nasty bad guys. It starts out seeming like a cute little kid anime but it quickly gets bloody, emotional and extremely violent. This series is about two little boys who are very good at alchemy, they attempt to raise their mother from the dead using alchemy with horrible consequences and they are trying desperately to put their lives back together and take care of the people they love. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this anime. Ranma 1/2 (over 9 seasons) - I'm not sure how many episodes this series is, I didn't have time to finish it. This is an anime about nothing, it has some continuity so it is good to watch it in order but things move slowly. This is a cute fun little anime from the 80s and it is definitely a light series. I'd recap the plot but I'm a little fuzzy on it... basically the main character is a boy who when he falls in cold water turns into a girl (hot water turns him back), he is in an arranged engagement with a girl who he doesn't like much but they learn to get along. Anyway the gender switch leads to lots of silly plots involving characters who are in love with ranma's female or male side and hate the other side but don't know he is one person. Best bet to find this anime is youtube. edit: Evangelion (64 episodes) - This is an interesting old series that had a horrible budget. The terrible budget led to some funny and creative methods for cutting down on ink and animation costs, at several points in the series they actually do run out of ink. Anyway this series has cute girls, giant robots and a penguin named pen-pen. It's is definitely a series to check out if you have the time but I'll warn you now the ending made a lot of people angry, the creator actually received death threats. His retaliation to these death threats was to make a movie where he blows up all of the characters so that the fans can't ask for more. edit: Kino's Journey (13 episodes) - This is a show about a girl and her talking motorcycle. They travel around to all sorts of different cities and each place is strange and very different. The episodes don't really follow a particular order most of the time and it is definitely a fun show to watch that you don't need to worry about keeping up with a continuing plot. Kino is great with a gun and looks a lot like a little boy so that leads to some weird little moments in the show. This is also a hard to find series, the only way I've been able to get a hold of it is on DVD. Japanese Movies Akira - This is a weird movie from the late 80s. Lots of blood and violence, personally I found it a little confusing but it is definitely an interesting movie. Spirited away - This is just a cute little movie, it doesn't have much of a foundation in reality and it reminds me of a kid movie. Howl's Moving Castle - This movie was created by the same studio as spirited away. It has the same cartoony kid feel and is also just a cute little movie about magic and love. I definitely would not consider either spirited away or howl's moving castle girly movies, all of my guy friends loved them too. Grave of the fireflies - This movie is about the Japanese fire bombings of WWII and if it doesn't make you cry then you have no soul. edit: This is an American movie but I feel like this belongs in the anime thread. Deadspace: Downfall. This is the prequel movie to the game Deadspace and it absolutely horrifying and great at the same time. It has a very hellsing feel to it, dead babies, dead soldiers, bloody corpses all over the place, people being ripped to shreds, eaten, dismembered, beheaded, turned into zombies, basically everything horrible you can do to a person in a hopeless lost in space with an infectious monster movie happens. Some impressive main characters and a very interesting zombie infestation style group of monsters. This is also a good movie because you can pick it up at blockbuster, bestbuy, circuit city and most other places you can pick up DVDs. That's all I've got for now but I'll update this thread more as I think of things.
Trigun and Fullmetal Alchemist. Dragonball Z also. Lupin the third Big O but Trigun and Big O are the best
I just watched Family Guy and it was pretty bloody. My favorite current cartoon but still love me some Beavis & Butthead. No not anime but good entertainment.
Well, since Anime is just the Japanese shortening of ANIMATION, it is... I mean, it's on the same DVD shelves as Gundam and the like, so...
I've seen a fair amount of anime, but never got into manga. Lets see, my favorite anime (no order): Series: Serial Experiments Lain Kaiba Toward the Terra Monster Cowboy Bebop Evangelion Mushishi Now and Then, Here and There Movies: The Girl Who Lept Through Time Paprika Shorts (OVAs): Noiseman Kigeki (Comedy) Pale Cocoon I tend to gravitate toward more experimental/mature/mindscrew/etc rather than the typical shonen anime. But I have enjoyed the occasional Azumanga Daioh or FLCL every now and then. gatto- if you haven't seen some of these, I'd recommend picking them up
If we're sticking to Japanese animation, I loved Last Exile. It was never that popular over here, it seems, but it was quite good. And, of course, the Ghibli movies.... As for the typical, kids style "beat em up oh no here comes another bad guy gotta train to get more powerful" ad infinitum stuff, I like Bleach a lot. My wife LOVES Evangelion, but I just can't watch it. Dull, Dull, Dull, mixed with Formula, Formula, Formula...Ghost in the shell, now, that I can watch.
The only Evangelion version I ever got into was Neon Genesis Evangelion. Ninja Scroll, for ultimate old school
I have never really watched any religiously but here are some I like Naruto Trigun Last Exile (It has cogs how is that not great) Cowboy bebop Anything Ghibli Metropolis I could never get in to Bleach or Manga, I stick to american graphic novels.
Favourite series: Neon Genesis Evangelion Gungrave Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex Cowboy Bebop Samurai Shamploo Favourite movies: Tekkonkinkreet Princess Mononoke Ghost in the Shell Ninja Scroll Cowboy Bebop Vampire Hunter D Memories Metropolis Appleseed Akira Howl's Moving Castle Spirited Away Dead Leaves Grave of the Fireflies The Castle of Cagliostro Neon Genesis Evangelion Voices of a Distant Star Jin Roh Evangelion will blow your mind...Wiki