Anime recomendations (55 series so far)

[Red Comet]

These recomendations are pretty good, but there's one series in particular I see left out.  Gundam SEED.  I've seen quite a bit of anime, and I'd say that Gundam SEED is one of the greatest series ever.

Oh, yes, we definitely need a Gundam title on this list.  And I think you picked the best one to put on this list.  What makes "Gundam Seed" so interesting is that it combines several elements from other Gundam Series (not that I've seen them all - I get much of my anime from Cartoon Network).  So if you can only see one Gundam, I'd say watch "Gundam Seed".


Let's see if I can make a summary here - In the year 70 of the cosmic Era, tensions between the newly created coordinators (humans enhanced by manipulating their genes) and naturals were mounting and eventually erupted into a full scale war.  Since the nuclear attacks did devastating damage to both sides, N-jammers were developed to neutralize nuclear weapons.  The weapons of choice in the war then became mobile suits - human shaped battle machines about 18 meters in size armed with various types of weapons.

The story starts in year 71 of the Cosmic Era as Kira Yamato and several other students at the space colony of Heliopolis are near a secret weapons development area when the coordinator forces (called ZAFT) attack and try to forcibly seize the new weapons.  Seeing his friends in danger, Kira (the only coordinator among these students) pilots one of these mobile suits - the strike - and fends off the attack from ZAFT.  The strike and the battleship Archangel are saved although several other mobile suits fall into the hands of ZAFT.  Heliopolis is damaged to the point of destruction and must be evacuated.  Kira and the other students exposed to the new military weapons become the new crewmen of the Archangel (as several others were killed in the battle) and hurry to link up with the naturals' fleet, pursued by ZAFT.

Although Kira's only goal was to protect his friends, he is now involved in the war between ZAFT and the naturals.  And the fact that he is a coordinator makes it strange that he is fighting on the side of the naturals.

New groups/characters are introduced as the story progresses.  And groups/characters change - old friends become enemies and old enemies become friends.  But that's how the story begins.  For more info., here's the official website:
http://www.gundamofficial.com/worlds/ce/index.html

[Wyvern]

The setting is historical fiction, sometime between the 1600's and 1800's. The three of them go on a journey. Stuff happens... like sword fights, and romance and drama, and comedy, and baseball,

If there's baseball (as we know it today, at least), it's got to be the 1800s, seeing as how it wasn't invented until then. o_o

Champloo takes place in the year 1788. But that show is full of anachronisms; stuff like a samurai who talks into the hilt of his sword like it's a microphone, a century before microphones will be invented. The show likes to have fun with the samurai genre and ignores historical accuracy-in fact, at the very begining of series, the very first thing you see is a disclaimer reading "This work of fiction is NOT an accurate historical portrayal." Then the series begins...in modern Japan, by accident, so they use a rewind effect until they're back in 1788. It's a funny show. ^^

[otakreg]

For anyone interested, here's a cool site that analyzes Samurai Champloo and identifies all its anachronisms:
http://www.spookhouse.net/angelynx/comics/anachronisms.html

Quote from the site:

SO: We can pretty safely assume that Champloo is meant to be taking place in roughly 1675. Not (evidently) quite the 1675 we know here, but some other 1675...where police palanquins have flashing lights on top, and baseball has popped into existence a bit early.

So... it's a really interesting show. 

[Wyvern]

For anyone interested, here's a cool site that analyzes Samurai Champloo and identifies all its anachronisms:
http://www.spookhouse.net/angelynx/comics/anachronisms.html

Quote from the site:

SO: We can pretty safely assume that Champloo is meant to be taking place in roughly 1675. Not (evidently) quite the 1675 we know here, but some other 1675...where police palanquins have flashing lights on top, and baseball has popped into existence a bit early.

So... it's a really interesting show. 

In the opening narration of episode 5, our narrator (Detective Manzou) says: "In 1885, an artist [Vincent van Gogh] who was much impressed by the ukiyo-e art he saw in Paris moved to the French province of Arles...But now it’s a hundred years before that." Or, "Just like that, time rewinds a hundred years." Either translation would seem to state that the present year, Champloo-wise, is 1785 or close thereabouts,

Hrm. For some reason the fansub I watched it on said 88 instead of 85...wacky.

In any case, it's quite possible that the creators of the show don't WANT to establish a specific time period, or even go as far to contradict themselves about the time period, because the show isn't trying to be historically accurate anyway.

[otakreg]

In the opening narration of episode 5, our narrator (Detective Manzou) says: "In 1885, an artist [Vincent van Gogh] who was much impressed by the ukiyo-e art he saw in Paris moved to the French province of Arles...But now it’s a hundred years before that." Or, "Just like that, time rewinds a hundred years." Either translation would seem to state that the present year, Champloo-wise, is 1785 or close thereabouts,

Hrm. For some reason the fansub I watched it on said 88 instead of 85...wacky.

In any case, it's quite possible that the creators of the show don't WANT to establish a specific time period, or even go as far to contradict themselves about the time period, because the show isn't trying to be historically accurate anyway.

Yeah, I think that's a pretty good assumption. It's after 1600 and probably before 1800, and that's about all we know.

And did we mention the show rocks? 

[Nervecandy]

Didn't see FLCL there...maybe Im a fanatic about that show ... well...

FLCL in a nutshell: A boy is alone in a boring town near a river. His brother is gone. He hangs out frequently with a girl near the river named Mamini. Meanwhile the Pirate King Atomsk has been captured and trapped or something. To release him, a crazy alein named Haru-Hara Haruko (Raharu), opens an interdimensional portal in the boys (Naotas) brain. Robots come out of there as the plot unfolds..

Didnt want to ruin the surprises... too vague?
Its a wonderful show nonetheless that goes from humor/action to a more serious tone at the end

Yeah, I think that's a pretty good assumption. It's after 1600 and probably before 1800, and that's about all we know.

And did we mention the show rocks? 

And yes! Champloo rules!

[Orna]

Nah--FLCL is an interesting show.  I've only seen a bit of it though.

[ShikamaCHU]

Only Six episodes long, so like a bit is a huge chunka the series....

I kinda wished it were longer...but then I decided it was best the way it was.

And it STILL has the best opening song EVAR.

Oh yeah, I sing that everywhere and tiny Japanese people think I'm Crazy.

But Y'know, It's THEMS PEOPLE that made it. I mean, with all this crazy sick anime out there, and then you see all these boring people that refuse to be non-conformy or stand out in any way (Because it's shunned and like AAAH No! My personality is showing! Kya! How dare you peek you perv!) anime starts to make sense.

It's because they need to bottle it up and it aaaaaall comes out all at once (Can be a metaphor describing small children that are the interest of their Brother's Pedo girlfriend with robots coming out of their noggins) and...

Yes.

Yes, I just ranted something unrelated but when you think about it… It only just kinda related sorta to your post.

I built my thoughts on it.

Like people that live in hills, they took something and they made it holy and less structurally sound.
。。。。。
Or something.

[Nervecandy]

No...I follow you. And yes! The music in that show rules!

[Songbird21]

You guys seriously need to check out Mai Hime. The music in that series is unbelievable! 

[ShikamaCHU]

Mai Hime got all licensed like before I got too far into it but YES! That had some awesomerific music. As well as Character designs and an interesting story that was literally made for T.V.(It was done without a manga (Which did pop up, just later, and had very little to do with he series)  it's a studio's original work. This tends to either make something like...the best in the world, or really bad, and it worked in Mai Hime's favor.

(the studio that like, is totally anime before manga is Gainax...I can't think of all that many times where there was a manga first (Although they do almost always follow after)...And Gainax is really good at it...)

Uh...Mai Hime good...I just wished I could have watched more of it (Blast...Maybe when I get back...Confounded licensing....)

</pointless things no one wanted to know...>

[Nervecandy]

Tell me that again when I get DSL and go all pirate on it. Mai Hime...sounds cool.

[Songbird21]

Mai Hime good...I just wished I could have watched more of it (Blast...Maybe when I get back...Confounded licensing....)

Actually. You can download all the eps here: http://releases.static-subs.com/    Have fun ^_^\/

[Wyvern]

Only Six episodes long, so like a bit is a huge chunka the series....

I kinda wished it were longer...but then I decided it was best the way it was.

And it STILL has the best opening song EVAR.

Oh yeah, I sing that everywhere and tiny Japanese people think I'm Crazy.

But Y'know, It's THEMS PEOPLE that made it. I mean, with all this crazy sick anime out there, and then you see all these boring people that refuse to be non-conformy or stand out in any way (Because it's shunned and like AAAH No! My personality is showing! Kya! How dare you peek you perv!) anime starts to make sense.

It's because they need to bottle it up and it aaaaaall comes out all at once (Can be a metaphor describing small children that are the interest of their Brother's Pedo girlfriend with robots coming out of their noggins) and...

Yes.

Yes, I just ranted something unrelated but when you think about it… It only just kinda related sorta to your post.

I built my thoughts on it.

Like people that live in hills, they took something and they made it holy and less structurally sound.
。。。。。
Or something.

Actually, that's one of the best posts EVAR. It goes a long way towards explaining some of the insaneness and creativity that goes into anime-all that individuality has to go SOMEWHERE, right?

It also helps explain the rise of shows like Naruto-Naruto is pretty different from how Japanese people are expected to act; he's an individual who defies authority, craves personal recognition and suceeds while remaning an outcast. Rather than trying to undo his outcastyness by becoming one of the group, he insists that the group change itself to suit HIM; he wants to become Hokage and make everyone recognize him because to him gaining recognition through conforming and denying his true nature is unthinkable. Meanwhile, traditional Japanese society would tell you that defying authority, wanting personal recognition and being an outcast are like the three worst things ever. Naruto is social wish-fulfillment. With talking dogs.

[Songbird21]

Naruto is social wish-fulfillment. With talking dogs.

I think I'm gonna die laughing!!!