How Could I Have Missed This???
 

That's what I want to say after watching the series you recommend I watch - I want to be stunned I didn't watch this when it came out. I've had the experience a few times - Seirei no Moribito, Dennou Coil... I try and always have one older series I've never seen and one favorite I'm viewing again in my "watching" list, along with the currently airing shows, and as I just finished Ghost Hunt I'm looking for its replacement.

I'm pretty much wide-open when it comes to genre - my anime list and ratings are here. I'll watch anything as long as it's good - if I had to pick genres I'd say slice-of-life, comedy, coming-of-age, romance, fantasy... And a great male lead is a plus. But as you'll see from my 4.5 and 5-star ratings I'm not really concerned with genre so much as quality. If anything, I tend to really love character-driven series.

I know this is a pretty broad request - but I appreciate any suggestions you might have. If I haven't watched your favorite series - let me know!

A First one bit older:
Juuni Kokki/The Twelve Kingdoms - this to date the only fantasy series I can compare to Seirei no Moribito for having such a rich and deep fantasy setting, I'd highly suggest it, though the main female, Youko, might put you off some at the start, she does change and develop a lot as a character. I'd really suggest it first.

Of last year some notable missing for your list by genres you listed, I'd say:
Katanagatari - the first two episodes are a bit more dialogue heavy than the later episodes, but it's very good fantasy character driven series with some romance and comedy at times plus Shichika's character develops quite well over the series compared to how he started too.
MM! - Since I see B Gata H Kei and Seitokai Yakuindomo got a decent rating from you, I'd suggest it's a great comedy/romance series and the male lead is good despite his "problem" :heh:.
Bungaku Shoujo - an excellent romance/drama movie of last year, the male lead isn't bad either especially after you learn what he went thru before ;).

Thanks for the quick reply! I tried really hard with Katanagatari - I really did - but there's just something about this author that rubs me the wrong way. I don't dislike it like I do Bakemonogatari, and I don't deny it's probably very good - it just doesn't fit with me.

I actually saw Bungaku Shoujo - at the cineplex on the top floor of Ikebukuro Station, in fact! My bad for not noting that in my account - fixed. Liked it a lot.

MM - I'll admit to being turned off by the premise, and that's why I skipped it. With your rec in mind, I'll try and work my way up to giving it a try.

I don't know why I haven't watched Twelve Kingdoms - everyone compares it to Moribito. I have no excuses - I've just never quite felt in the mood at the time I considered it.

A couple of series I'm toying with, in case anyone has a strong opinion: Lovely Complex, Kekkaishi, Kenichi, Aishiteruze Baby. And no, I haven't seen Honey & Clover. That doesn't make me a bad person.

After a cursory glance, I didn't see Princess Tutu on your list. Quite possibly the best mahou shoujo of the 2000's, as well as simply one of the best anime titles period.

I'm sure I'll add more later...

Reads synopsis. Reads a few forum comments. Intrigued...

Some others:
Nodame Cantabile
the Kara no Kyoukai film series
none of the Aria series
Monster
Planetes
and some others...

I also noticed that you hadn't seen series such as Code Geass, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and other similar big name projects. Did you simply leave them off you list? Or did you intentionally steer clear of them?

Heh, your tastes are hard to pin down judging by your list, but I'll give it a shot?

Paranoia Agent - Satoshi Kon's one and only anime series. Very strange at times, but a really great work.

Haibane Renmei - Not like Mushishi necessarily, but people who enjoy Mushishi almost always enjoy this anime too.

Nana - A story focused on older girls, around their college years (20), though they don't go to college.

Skip Beat - A very funny and endearing shoujo.

I had noticed that too, I assumed there was some reason hence I choose not mention those series :uhoh:.

The only name I would say I've sort of semi-intentionally avoided is probably Code Geass - I guess it's the contrarian in me resisting it's popularity, though I know it's well-regarded as well as popular.

The rest of your list is mostly series that have been on my "to-do" list forever and I just never seem to get around to, though I confess I hadn't given the Aria projects much thought. The hard part is ordering them and deciding what to watch first.

Paranoia Agent is on my list - one of 4.5 star series, in fact. Love it to death.

Looking for trends myself, I do notice that I tend to like series that have a balance of strong female and male characters, and it seems to be the case that a lot of the ones I see recommended appear to have exclusively female casts - among the major characters anyway. Not all of them of course, but that may be part of why I hadn't rushed to shows like Haibane Renmei and Nana.

Actually while Nana does have two main characters as girls, the cast itself is fairly balanced with males that are very interesting in their own right as well.

I am fairly convinced though that you'd like Haibane Remei though. It's a series like Mushishi that has a very nice way of exploring the beauty of its setting and characters. Very subtle in execution. Just overall a great watch.

But now that you've given me slightly more of a clue, I'll throw in two more recommendations...

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo - Based on the actual novel the coutne of monte cristo. Visuals are outstanding, and a very nice story.

RahXephon - Very similar to Evangelion, but only superficially. Ultimately it's a very different type of story.

Thanks for all the recommendations so far. Gankutsuou has hovered on the fringe of my attention for a while, and looks very interesting. It's from the glory days at Gonzo, and Last Exile is one of my all-time favorites. RahXephon - maybe the only BONES series I haven't watched, or at least tried to and dropped.

I started writing this a couple of hours ago then had to leave. Forgive me if I repeat what others have said already.

Twelve Kingdoms was at the top of my list, too. You must promise me, though, that you'll watch at least until a certain rather unusual character arrives. It's about half-a-dozen episodes into the story. Youko's story ends at episode thirty-nine; there are six more episodes about another character that tell a very abbreviated story because the novelist, Ono Fuyumi, took ill. Yes, it's the same Ono that wrote Ghost Hunt and Shiki.

I think you might also like Saiunkoku Monogatari, though the protagonist is a very independently-minded female. It has a variety of strong guys in supporting roles (it is a reverse harem of sorts) and some pretty impressive female supporting characters as well. Though it has some supernatural aspects, they're much less pronounced than in either Moribito or Twelve Kingdoms.

You also don't seem to have Kemono no Sou-ja Erin on your list despite your love for Uehashi's Moribito. It shares many of the same themes as Moribito, particularly the role of founding myths in later political events. I can't point to the fansubs any more, but they're from a well-known "immobile" group and have considerably better translations than Crunchyroll's.

There are a few shows that seemed strangely lacking from your list, making me think you'd tried them and decided against them. I'd put Monster at the top of that list. It has a great male lead and male antagonist and certainly has a lot of focus on psychology. It's not really like any of your favorite genres, though.

Another show you might enjoy is Welcome to the NHK!. It has elements of comedy and slice-of-life, but there's a lot of psychological drama as well. Two other slice-of-life shows I can recommend are Bartender and Hataraki Man. Fansubs for the latter can be found via Google.

My next suggestion actually comes in two parts. The first is the final "Bakeneko" arc of Ayakashi Samurai Horror Tales; the second is its unlicensed sequel Mononoke. I've admired these shows by Nakamura Kenji more than his Trapeze or [C].

Finally, I'll toss out two worthwhile "B+" shows that aren't on your list. Shion no Ou tells the story of a girl who witnesses her parents' bloody murder at age four and becomes a mute after the fact. The story follows her at age thirteen when she's trying to become a competitive professional Shougi ("Japanese chess") player. The other show is Nijuu Mensou no Musume about a young heiress who is kidnapped by a mysterious master thief. Both of these were subbed by the excellent Live-eviL when they were doing the occasional recent series.

I don't know that any of these will knock your socks off like Moribito or Dennou Coil, but they're all worth watching.

You haven't watched Martian Successor Nadesico or Sorcerer Hunters!? GOOD GOD MAN where have you been D0=!? Those are classics. If I were to choose one, I'd probably choose SH, because the main male char is just too awesome =03(in a classic sort of way). Of course, I watched it back during its era, so it might be just the nostalgia talking (>.>)...

If you like science fiction w/o the explosions and large mech battles, Crest of the Stars and its direct sequel Banner of the Stars are a MUST watch. It's more akin to Star Trek, if you've ever watched that show. It can be rather complicated at times, but it has an engrossing plot with very realistic chars.

Thanks - actually, I've seen Crest and Banner, and MSN as well - it's been so long I forgot to put them on my list. Not Sorcerer Hunters, though.

Sensei, I thought you might weigh in with Twelve Kingdoms, Monster, and Erin - I know they're all favorites. I did try to watch Erin and it just never grabbed me - does it take quite a long time to get interesting? The other two have been on my list for ages - it's always been a question of just finding the time for a really long series.

I hadn't really considered the other shows you mentioned - I'll take a close look at each of them. Frankly, with many of the "strangely lacking" shows time is very much a factor if they pre-date the timeframe when I've been more than a casual anime viewer. It's always been difficult to view more than one older series at a time and as time passes, more and more "bucket list" series pile up... :heh:

in order

toshokan sensou
hikaru no go
air gear

btw heres my list
http://www.anime-planet.com/users/qw.../anime/watched
the compare button is handy with the filter :)

I think there are a lot of good recommendations here already, so I only have one idea for you.

GunGRAVE - This one might be outside of your usual genre range, but I think it fits firmly into "how could I have missed this?" category. The action is great, but the characters and their relationship spanning over the years of the story are what make it a good show. My only gripe is that the first episode is full of spoilers. Just skip over it if you decide to watch the series, as the story begins on episode two.

I noticed Maison Ikkoku was not on your list.

That should be rectified.

That's Rumiko, isn't it? I'm sure I watched at least some of it, so many years ago I've forgotten...

Damn - so many choices. I was hoping everyone was going to suggest the same show! :heh::heh::heh:

Well finding something you havn't watched these past few years is quite a task :p

I'll go with Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora (long titles aren't something reserved to 2011!)
Don't see it on your list and you only posted once in the thread dedicated to it but it wasn't about the show so I'm not sure if you watched an episode,I'll assume you didn't.

Studio Hal film maker got the director of Beck to direct this.

Here's the summary:"Suzuki Sora is a cheerful country girl from the small town of Bie. She made a promise to her father, and following this promise applies and is accepted for a magic internship in Tokyo, where she will face the life in a big city. While training to get better with her magic, she meets a mysterious boy also practicing to become a mage. While he can not use magic that well and he seems distant and cold at first, Sora's fate intertwines with his and the two are thrown together, learning a lot of new things about life and each other."

My comment
A slice of life/romance/drama/coming of age story,but it really leans towards slice of life,so anyone watching this has to get ready for some really slow pacing (even more than other slice of life animes).

The art style is also quite unique,you can tell they've used slightly retouched photographs to make the backrounds,having such a "real" backround contrast with the magic that the characters perform.

There's a "wham!" episode in there someplace,the ending devided people,I personaly loved it and it sealed both characters as two of my favorites out there.

Lastly here's the OP

Well, my favorite series is Simoun. I suspect you will feel like dropping it after the OP, which includes an apparent yuri kiss, but try to forge on. Great science fiction, in my opinion, and the best show I have watched about the nature of war and peace. It just happens that in the show's world, everyone is female until they reach the age of 17 and choose a gender. You can see gender-like differences among the several female priestess/pilots who make up the excellent ensemble cast of real actresses (Takahashi Rieko, Koshimizu Ami, Noto Mamiko, Nazuka Kaori, Yukana, Kuwashima Houko, Tamagawa Sakiko, et al.). And the character design, both original and animation, is by Nishida Asako, who is the animation character designer of Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko. She was also the overall animation director.

I'd also suggest the Ghibli (but not Miyazaki) film Whisper of the Heart. A real romance, dealing with the intersection between romantic feelings and future career.

I'm also a big fan of Natsu no Sora (to abbreviate the title), Saraiya Goyou (which you like, too), Kara no Kyoukai, Planetes, Haibane Renmei, Crest of Stars, and NANA, all of which other people have mentioned.