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New to Anime, where to start?
- Thread starter Ashenor
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patrickthehedgehog
Member
My first movie was Ghost in the Shell and my first series was Evangelion. Both are good places to start if you're into scifi with character drama.
If you aren't bothered by older animation styles I think VOTOMS would be a cool first show. Like Eva and GitS it has an expansive and interesting setting that you can really get into. The dvds might be a bit difficult to find now, but you could always netflix it.
Everyone seems to love Fullmetal Alchemist and if you live in an area where it's availiable you can watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood online for free on the Funimation or Madman websites. It's a completely new retelling so you can jump right in without knowing anything.
If you aren't bothered by older animation styles I think VOTOMS would be a cool first show. Like Eva and GitS it has an expansive and interesting setting that you can really get into. The dvds might be a bit difficult to find now, but you could always netflix it.
Everyone seems to love Fullmetal Alchemist and if you live in an area where it's availiable you can watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood online for free on the Funimation or Madman websites. It's a completely new retelling so you can jump right in without knowing anything.
thetechkid
Member
Ashenor said:
Pretty much for every manga that has an anime, the manga version is better.
DemonSwordsman
Banned
thetechkid said:
One piece anime is better.
Femmeworth
Banned
Then there are the rare cases where both are awesome in different ways, eg. Planetes.hirokazu said:
thetechkid
Member
DemonSwordsman said:
I haven't read the manga so I wouldn't be able to compare those.
Femmeworth
Banned
That won't last long. :\ I gave up after volume three.Ashenor said:
I don't know if you're in America or not, but the Death Note anime is available subbed on hulu.com.
thetechkid
Member
Ashenor said:
Death Note had like 37 episodes, while One Piece is currently +400
Future PhaZe
Member
I must be the only person who's watched a shitload of anime but isn't a big fan of Bebop. Watched the first 4 episodes and got bored.
flintstryker
Banned
Reporting for duty.Dark FaZe said:
Femmeworth
Banned
The only thing more overrated than Cowboy Bebop is its soundtrack. Blue can suck it. You bet I went there!
I actually really like Bebop.
I used to watch a little anime but haven't in a long time, and all of a sudden I've had an urge to watch some more for some reason. I don't know where to start though, and I don't feel like trying out a million anime before I find one I like.
If, from what I remember, I really liked these:
Cowboy Bebop (Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck the haters)
Evangelion (only watched first handful of episodes)
Berserk
Lain Serial Experiments or whatever it's called (a little too slow and weird for me, but I enjoyed it)
but didn't care for:
Trigun
Gundam
Dragon Ball Z
any recommendations? more interested in tv shows than movies. I'm thinking maybe I should just restart Evangelion. I don't know why I stopped watching past the first disc or two, but that was like 8-9 years ago.
I'm mostly interested in stuff with good character development but also some action and/or adventure, and cool settings. More interested in modern or futuristic/sci-fi than medieval/fantasy stuff. Also, the less goofy shit the better. I think that's why I was turned off from Trigun after finishing Bebop, hoping it would be similar.
If, from what I remember, I really liked these:
Cowboy Bebop (Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck the haters)
Evangelion (only watched first handful of episodes)
Berserk
Lain Serial Experiments or whatever it's called (a little too slow and weird for me, but I enjoyed it)
but didn't care for:
Trigun
Gundam
Dragon Ball Z
any recommendations? more interested in tv shows than movies. I'm thinking maybe I should just restart Evangelion. I don't know why I stopped watching past the first disc or two, but that was like 8-9 years ago.
I'm mostly interested in stuff with good character development but also some action and/or adventure, and cool settings. More interested in modern or futuristic/sci-fi than medieval/fantasy stuff. Also, the less goofy shit the better. I think that's why I was turned off from Trigun after finishing Bebop, hoping it would be similar.
Femmeworth
Banned
Hook, line, and sinker.JayDubya said:
I really love Blue... until the main vocals start.
Diatribe1974
Member
Ashenor said:
Good Anime existed (for me at least) from the late 80's till around 2000 (perhaps a bit after, but not much). Most series after that ended up losing interest very quickly as I felt the classic hand drawn style was being more and more replaced with the cold, artificial inclusion of computers "helping" out too much in more and more series. That and more and more series were that of the Japanese creators running out of ideas and venturing into "WTF_IS_GOING_THE_F*CK_ON?!?!?" territory.
Well, most of the ones I'd recommend have already been posted multiple times.
But I'm a bit surprised nobody has mentioned Basilisk or Samurai 7. Not the best, but they're both pretty good, somewhat short mini-series to start out an anime "career" with.
Even though these have already been posted, this is my personal list:
Rurouni Kenshin - Quite possibly my all-time favorite anime series. Somewhat large series, including all OVAs/movies. Everyone should watch this amazing series.
Bleach - Episodes 1-63 is pure anime crack. After that, the fillers start to ruin the series, but it's still very good when it gets back on track with the main, manga storyline.
Dragon Ball Z - Classic series. Too many fillers, so it can get boring at times, but still one of the best anime series ever.
Last Exile - Surprisingly very good series. Great characters, memorable moments, good story.
Full Metal Panic! - Fun series.
Yu Yu Hakusho - Good series, but not for everyone.
Naruto - Yeah, yeah. It's marketed to kiddies and there's just way too many fillers, but it can still be a fun and interesting series at times.
Gundam Wing - Sadly, I haven't really watched the other Gundams, but this is a pretty good series. I really liked it back in the day.
Trigun - Didn't watch the entire thing but I've seen most of the episodes, including the last few. Pretty good series.
And of course, the 2 classic anime movies everyone should watch are Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D.
That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure I'm missing a few, but what I've listed are some must-watch anime.
But I'm a bit surprised nobody has mentioned Basilisk or Samurai 7. Not the best, but they're both pretty good, somewhat short mini-series to start out an anime "career" with.
Even though these have already been posted, this is my personal list:
Rurouni Kenshin - Quite possibly my all-time favorite anime series. Somewhat large series, including all OVAs/movies. Everyone should watch this amazing series.
Bleach - Episodes 1-63 is pure anime crack. After that, the fillers start to ruin the series, but it's still very good when it gets back on track with the main, manga storyline.
Dragon Ball Z - Classic series. Too many fillers, so it can get boring at times, but still one of the best anime series ever.
Last Exile - Surprisingly very good series. Great characters, memorable moments, good story.
Full Metal Panic! - Fun series.
Yu Yu Hakusho - Good series, but not for everyone.
Naruto - Yeah, yeah. It's marketed to kiddies and there's just way too many fillers, but it can still be a fun and interesting series at times.
Gundam Wing - Sadly, I haven't really watched the other Gundams, but this is a pretty good series. I really liked it back in the day.
Trigun - Didn't watch the entire thing but I've seen most of the episodes, including the last few. Pretty good series.
And of course, the 2 classic anime movies everyone should watch are Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D.
That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure I'm missing a few, but what I've listed are some must-watch anime.
I'm assuming you're talking about series and not movies here, I think these three are pretty good starting points for a newcomer to anime.
- Azumanga Daioh - Slice of life comedy about six high school girls and their daily lives.
- Cowboy Bebop - Episodic action/comedy/sci-fi series about bounty hunters in space.
- Rurouni Kenshin (OVA) - Samurai anime with a good mix of drama and action.
I would NOT recommend stuff like Evangelion or Lain for starters, they aren't easy to get in to..
- Azumanga Daioh - Slice of life comedy about six high school girls and their daily lives.
- Cowboy Bebop - Episodic action/comedy/sci-fi series about bounty hunters in space.
- Rurouni Kenshin (OVA) - Samurai anime with a good mix of drama and action.
I would NOT recommend stuff like Evangelion or Lain for starters, they aren't easy to get in to..
Guybrush Threepwood
Banned
bounchfx said:
Yeah, because you can only go uphill from there.
I counted Basilisk as one of my favourites...until I watched it again. The first 1/3 of the show is really compelling...but it felt really drawn out and uninteresting afterwards. A great show to see once...but my 2nd time through tells me there won't be a third. Samurai 7 has some nice animation, but everything else was below par. Watch Samurai Champloo instead.Click said:
For the OP...stay away from overly long series like Naruto, Bleach, etc. Far more bad than good.
Decado said:
I never watch anime series multiple times. You already know what's going to happen and it just takes too damn long to re-watch them multiple times. Obviously they're going to lose their initial "shine" and the "freshness" is no longer there. Anime movies are easier to re-watch, if they're good.
However, I have been thinking about re-watching a few anime series that I haven't seen in a while. I just never get around to doing so...
Future PhaZe
Member
Basilisk is pretty fun. I preferred it in Manga form though.
I won't disagree your "Don't start with Evangelion" thing, but what sort of things about Evangelion embodies what you hate about anime?Decado said:
There are so many genres and styles of anime, and Evangelion certainly doesn't define what all (or even most) anime is about anyhow.
Annihilator
Member
Dark FaZe said:
Definitely not. Cowboy Bebop is probably the most overrated Anime ever. I didn't finish it either.
I don't hate Evangelion, I think it was merely above average although it had some good ideas and a few epic scenes but as a show it was above average.
What I hate are Evangelion, and when I say this I don't mean merely someone who likes it I mean someone who takes it seriously, like real serious, then they piss me off to no end. Reason is, because while I think they're obviously crazy for taking a work of fiction as some legitimate religious history(yes I know there was a Lillith, don't care) worthy of lengthy discussion or it's take on humanity as some deep concept, it was a cartoon! Just because you masked your bandage girl fetish and suicidal thoughts with classical music doesn't mean it's all of a sudden some great piece that needs to be studied in philosophy class. Really though, what sets them at the top of my hate list though is all the other weird genres of anime are clearly stupid and have appropriate labels, like incest, rape, pedophilia, but what do you classify someone who's taken Evangelion to the extreme, a pseudo intellect? Doesn't sting enough.
What I hate are Evangelion, and when I say this I don't mean merely someone who likes it I mean someone who takes it seriously, like real serious, then they piss me off to no end. Reason is, because while I think they're obviously crazy for taking a work of fiction as some legitimate religious history(yes I know there was a Lillith, don't care) worthy of lengthy discussion or it's take on humanity as some deep concept, it was a cartoon! Just because you masked your bandage girl fetish and suicidal thoughts with classical music doesn't mean it's all of a sudden some great piece that needs to be studied in philosophy class. Really though, what sets them at the top of my hate list though is all the other weird genres of anime are clearly stupid and have appropriate labels, like incest, rape, pedophilia, but what do you classify someone who's taken Evangelion to the extreme, a pseudo intellect? Doesn't sting enough.
Evangelion pseudo-intellect, reporting for duty!
Seriously though, the show is deep, and there's a lot of interesting biological, psychological, philosophical, and religious subtext.
I think it's clear at this point that not all of it was preplanned and that some of those elements were only chosen because they looked cool to the artists. Doesn't really diminish it too much, though.
Seriously though, the show is deep, and there's a lot of interesting biological, psychological, philosophical, and religious subtext.
I think it's clear at this point that not all of it was preplanned and that some of those elements were only chosen because they looked cool to the artists. Doesn't really diminish it too much, though.
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