Looking for an insanely good and long anime

[Sinanju]

I'm not looking for multiple there-there animes, I just want to scan for great ones that I've missed. Should be 50+ episodes preferably. Also, I'm not looking "random-hip-of-the-month-animes". Something that sticks. Epic.

Something similar to:

Prince of Tennis
Hunter x Hunter
Hajime no Ippo
Kenshin
Bleach episode 1-60
Naruto Shippuden (yeye)
Full Metal Alchemist
One Piece

Key ingredients:

Good, stable and well-building story. For example Monster/Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Excellent development of the characters throughout the episodes

Personalities, such as Killua from Hunter x Hunter, Ryoma from Prince of Tennis, Kenshin, Goro from Major etc etc. No blonde fools that screams DATTEBAYO! every 5 seconds and thinks that makes up for the utter lack of other personality, or similar.

Preferably 50+ episodes, only anime I've ever seen that managed to fill the "demands" above that hasn't been is Death Note.

It doesn't matter if the anime is sport/fighting/romance/drama/horror/mystery/fanatasy or whatever.

No-no's:

No mega-wusses like Shirou from Fate/Stay Night.

No mecha. Only mecha-animes I've managed to watch through was Full Metal Panic and the end of utawarerumono. And I had to hide every object I could kill myself with while watching.

No Simon & Garfunkle cupcake-baking animes such as Honey and Clover, only managed to watch that **** by telling myself Guts from Berserk would come in any moment and kill everyone. And laugh about it.


Any suggestion within these critieras are greatly appreciated ;>

[noinimod]

Eureka Seven, 50 eps. Although that can be considered as mecha so.. lmao. I thought the characters were generally quite well fleshed out with very good design and animation.

[Kaze]

Death Note

Not 50 episodes, but I can guarantee it will stick

Ripped straight off Wiki because I'm lazy

The series centers on Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook dropped on Earth by Ryuk, a shinigami ("death god"), that allows Light to kill anyone by writing the victim's name in the notebook. The user must also know the face of the victim to prevent anyone with the same name from being harmed. The story follows Light's attempt to create and rule a world cleansed of evil using the notebook, and the complex conflict between him and his opponents.

[Ichihara Asako]

Kenichi was 50 (51-52? I forget) episodes and sounds like what you're looking for.

[C.A.]

Soul Eater is going on now and will be an epic 50 episodes.

[SeijiSensei]

How about Hkaru no Go or Saiunkoku Monogatari?

I would have suggested Monster, but you listed that already.

I think the economics of the anime industry has made series of this length other than obvious franchises like Naruto or Bleach much less common in the past couple of years. Even 20+ episode series have become rarer it seems.

Oh, and Chi's Sweet Home has 104 episodes, each three minutes long.

[Matrim]

The Twelve Kingdoms - 45 episodes of epicness (is that a word? ).

[SeijiSensei]

I would have recommended Twelve Kingdomsi except the OP specified 50+ episodes. To me the real story ends in episode 39 because of the abrupt end to the arc begun in episode 40 (the author took ill). Nevertheless, it's definitely high on the "epicness" scale.

[Sinanju]

Originally Posted by noinimod

Eureka Seven, 50 eps. Although that can be considered as mecha so.. lmao. I thought the characters were generally quite well fleshed out with very good design and animation.

Originally Posted by Kaze

Death Note

Not 50 episodes, but I can guarantee it will stick

Ripped straight off Wiki because I'm lazy

I already wrote that I've seen Death Note

Originally Posted by Ichihara Asako

Kenichi was 50 (51-52? I forget) episodes and sounds like what you're looking for.

Seen it, and well, it was quite far off from what I've listed. The story is dreadful, due to the utter lack of one, the personalities are annoying at best and well, kenichi is a wussy ;p

Originally Posted by C.A.

Soul Eater is going on now and will be an epic 50 episodes.

Currently watching it

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

How about Hkaru no Go or Saiunkoku Monogatari?

I would have suggested Monster, but you listed that already.

I think the economics of the anime industry has made series of this length other than obvious franchises like Naruto or Bleach much less common in the past couple of years. Even 20+ episode series have become rarer it seems.

Oh, and Chi's Sweet Home has 104 episodes, each three minutes long.

Seen Hikaru no Go, maybe even should've listed it in the "something similar to"-list though I think it falls short at some points. I havn't seen Saiunkoku Monogatari but it really doesn't seem like anything I'd watch. And Chi's sweet Home is something I'd need an bag at the side to watch I think ;p

Originally Posted by Matrim

The Twelve Kingdoms - 45 episodes of epicness (is that a word? ).

I've concidered watching it, but people seems to have really split opinions when it comes to 12kingdoms so I havn't really gotten about to.

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I would have recommended Twelve Kingdomsi except the OP specified 50+ episodes. To me the real story ends in episode 39 because of the abrupt end to the arc begun in episode 40 (the author took ill). Nevertheless, it's definitely high on the "epicness" scale.

Same as above ^^

[andromeda0201]

Yu Yu Hakusho - if you don't mind dated animes, this is from the same author as hunter x hunter, and is very good as well

D. Gray Man - it had some fillers in between, but once you get somewhere halfway, its really good

Yakitate Japan - yes its an anime about baking, but its really fun

Slam Dunk - again another slightly dated anime, but the characters and story are excellent

Initial D - animation is horrible to begin with, but once you reach the 2nd stage, you'll be hooked. I won't say its insanely good, but its worth watching

[Sinanju]

Originally Posted by Inujun

Yu Yu Hakusho - if you don't mind dated animes, this is from the same author as hunter x hunter, and is very good as well

D. Gray Man - it had some fillers in between, but once you get somewhere halfway, its really good

Yakitate Japan - yes its an anime about baking, but its really fun

Slam Dunk - again another slightly dated anime, but the characters and story are excellent

Initial D - animation is horrible to begin with, but once you reach the 2nd stage, you'll be hooked. I won't say its insanely good, but its worth watching

Yu Yu Hakusho is something I've planned on watching actually, havn't got around to yet though. Maybe I should since my all-time favourite anime is HxH ^^ I like "older" animes, around 1995-2003 are in my preference actually, I don't like much of the new ones at all.

Didn't get hooked on d-gray man, even though I saw like 20 episodes. However good the story is, I doubt it's something I'd get hooked on when it's about baking ;p I really, really disliked the animations in Slam Dunk, first time I actually stopped watching an anime purely by that reason. There is nothing that can happen in an car-racing anime that I'd think is interesting so even though people has suggested to me later, I'll never ever watch it.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Sinanju

I've concidered watching it, but people seems to have really split opinions when it comes to 12kingdoms so I havn't really gotten about to.

Don't believe everything you hear. If you've never watched Twelve Kingdoms you should put it on your list. The primary story arc covers episodes 1-39; a second arc begins at episode 40 but concludes abruptly at episode 45 because of the author's illness. Nevertheless it's an outstanding piece of work and certainly well worth your time. It's a little slow at the beginning but picks up pace quickly around episode six or so.

Chi's sweet Home is something I'd need an bag at the side to watch I think ;p

Chi is going to come to your house and pee on your sofa for being such a meanie!

[AceD]

in all honesty, theres no ''insanely'' good thats long...there always fillers ( when really long...am thinking bleach, naruto, dragonballz, R kenshin etc )

full metal panic is about 49 episodes over 3 seasons...is good
code geass is 50 episodes over 2 seasons....fantastic
Gundam Seed...err alot of episodes over 2 seasons, like 100 or so? this is pretty good

Kekkaishi is 52 eps, ive just got it, not watched it yet...i hear its ok

[williamaugustus]

i would say Blood+. it really develops its characters and shows how they change throughout the series. it has 50 episodes give or take 1 or 2.

[Proto]

Seirei no Moribito if you don't mind it being only 26 episodes long. In terms of genre it is similar to Kenshin, but a little more character focused.

And I double the recommendation on Twelve Kingdoms. Personally the reception I've encountered when presenting it to others have been overwhelmingly favorable.

I also *think* you would like D.Gray-man should you continue to watch it, you just left at the introduction of the series, and even though it gets a little bland in the 30-40 episodes, after that it gets really good when the Fallen One arc starts.

[james0246]

big second for Kekkaishi and 12 Kingdoms.

I wouldn't classify many of thee as "insanely" good, but many of these titles are still good and fun:

Kiba
The Law of Ueki
Get Backers
Eyeshield 21
Fist of the North Star - Berserk took quite a bit from this series.
Kaleido Star
Digimon Tamers
City Hunter as well as its sequels and Angel Heart (all same universe)
GTO
Card Captor Sakura
Yawara!

[C.A.]

Originally Posted by Voracious Hollow

code geass is 50 episodes over 2 seasons....fantastic
Gundam Seed...err alot of episodes over 2 seasons, like 100 or so? this is pretty good

Geass is good, but GSD is the worst 100 episodes Sunrise has ever created for Gundam.

Since its Sunrise in this post:

You probably won't want to touch the old school Gundam series, good though if you are interested. Other than that, the better of the later Gundam series.

Turn A Gundam
Gundam 00 season 1 + 2 = 52 episodes

But the best Sunrise anime ever is Yuusha Oh Gaogaigar + OVA, Gaogaigar Final. If you continue through the 50 + 8 episodes, it will be the most epic show you would have ever watch for a 50+ episode anime.

[Kaze]

Originally Posted by Sinanju

I already wrote that I've seen Death Note

Aha, sorry my mistake

How about Darker than Black
It's got loads of action and a very original story line
The main character is a hitman/assassin/thief and pretty badass straight off the bat.

Good, stable and well-building story. For example Monster/Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Excellent development of the characters throughout the episodes

I'd say Darker than Black is good in both of these criteria

[wingdarkness]

Hitman Reborn! - Well if you watch Bleach and Naruto $hitpoothen this should have no problem fitting into your collection…It’s currently @ 105 eps (So pi$$ed I finally caught up—no more multi-eps a week T_T)… Now if you’re not the type that can’t ignore goofy, kiddish friendship stuff, then avoid, but once the action starts, it’s classic shonen goodness…Starts off like it’s more comedy than action, and is kinda slow in spots (Getting through the first 40 eps are hit and miss), but once you get to the Vongola saga, the fighting, the animation, and the general coolness just peaks with raw coolness…I’d say the last 30 eps of Hitman Reborn! has more cool action (To fast cool BGM’s) than all of Bleach’s last season and Naruto Hurricane’s entire bad twister of a series…

Eyesheild 21 – I’d say this show is a dash of SLAM DUNK, a dash of Hajime No Ippo (How the character is a wimp at first then becomes the best--plus some of the training arcs), and a dash of DBZ…It’s basically a show about High School football in Japan…The main character used to get his a$$ kicked so bad by bullies that he developed an almost 6th sense for dodging them and running away from them (With 4.2 speed no doubt )…He’s noticed by the captain of the American Football club (whose an insane demon!) and the journey begins…While they screw-up a few rules of American Football on-screen (Helmets are off after every play, sometimes fumbles get ignored because they want to show the awesome hits, etc.,), they do have an extensive effort to show how NFL football works with lots of cool info and tutorial segments each episode…The DBZ factor is the fact that normal 50 yard touchdown runs in real-life become SOOOOOPA-powered death-matches with l33t abilities being shown by each player the segment focuses on…Really cool stuff when it’s done right…It’s like Football on acid^^ and it’s 145eps IIRC (I’m only on ep 97)…


As for the rest, IMO HxH is really good, especially the spider-arc eps (The Yugioh card season was a bit much though ), but Yu Yu Hakusho (112 eps) is my #1 ranked shonen-fighter of all-time (Aaaah, I could debate people all day who think it’s just a whatever fighting show)…Watch it in DVD quality if you can, and just absorb it…The Sensui arc is among one of my favorite arcs in anime-history PERIOD! Usuke Uramechi is the king of all shonen-fighter leads and Shinobu Sensui is just, OMG, I won’t be able to stop myself if I continue…

Honerable mentions: Ruronin Kenshin (90+ eps--Sux after the ShiShio arc, but you might like it ) SLAM DUNK (100+eps, just so good, but old skool), Flame of Recca (Only 26 eps, but it’s Yu Yu Hakusho’s dark Tournament clone series), Inuyasha (Hope you like characters more than you like a conclusive story^^), and I’ll say try G-Gundam (I know you hate mecha, but this Gundam series is more like a shonen-fighter then any other and Gundams do trick-mode $hit you won’t find in the more serious G-shows)…

[C.A.]

Ah yes I somehow forgot G Gundam, definitely one that a shonen anime fan can relate to.