Really need new anime/manga suggestions

[mikejacobs]

Right now I am experiencing a burn out in regards to anime/manga and I am hoping to find a gem that I have missed that will re-kindle my passion for anime. Please check my MAL (My Anime List) http://myanimelist.net/animelist/mikejacobs.

Right now, I don't care about the genre, only one condition, nothing childish like Lyrical Nanoha and before you recommend, do ctrl f and see if your recommendations match my completed list (I have listed every anime I have ever watched).

[Mangakasan]

Freezing and sekirei are incredible good I reccomend those.

[kitten320]

I will mention the ones that got my attention the most. Since you didn't mention genre here it goes:

Aria series (1st season is named Aria The Animation). Warn you right now that series are very relaxing and are mostly one shot episodes. If you feel tired and want to have a break, this is perfect. However, if you are for action and explosions, this is a NO!

Baccano! - great action series with a unique style of story telling. At first things are confusing but gradually we get each piece of puzzle and all the questions are answered by the end. 1st episode is a meh but later it really picks up.

Berserk - since you liked Claymore, this should be of your liking as well. The theme is different but both series are based in knight period and seal with monsters. Though as far as anime went, it more focuses on friendship with some nice action and interesting story.
There is a remake of anime, movie style. Did not see it yet so duno how good it is but anime original defiantly is worth a watch.

Chihayafuru - the biggest surprise of season when it was released. Just like majority I picked it up out of boredom but ended up loving it and can't wait for season 2. Series focus on 3 friends, mostly on a girl named Chihaya. She never had any real interest but after meeting a boy she got inspired to play Karuta like him. Their ways separated but they made a promise to meet each other in big tournament. But are things that easy?
When I started to watch anime I knew nothing about karuta and in all honesty it does sound a bit boring. But anime was able to make this sport look exciting. Animation is great with nice soundtrack and entertaining characters the develop over time.

Did you watch Clannad season 2?

Death Note - I'm surprised that you didn't watch such a well known title. Main chara just like Lelouch is an anti-MC. Series have a lot of suspense, drama, emotions... it keeps you on the edge of your sit for the biggest part of the show.

Since you have watch F/SN, it is a must for you to watch Fate/Zero which are much better series and a prequel.
You also should check out the movie F/SN: Unlimited Blade Works which is an alternative take on the anime series.

Do watch FMA: Bortherhood.

Ga-Rei Zero is one of my top shows with interesting cast, great action and drama as well as a good surprised factor at the start.
A bit reminds of Teresa arc from Claymore but not exactly.

Ghost Hunt - great detective series about ghosts. Great cast of characters, a lot of new information and bunch of suspense. Also one of my top series.

Great Teacher Onizuka - classic! You need to watch this or even better read it since anime missed a lot of material but still is good. It is a comedy about a very unique teacher who helped a lot of his students in a weird way. For example normally you would not force your student to jump of bridge.

Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai - great comedy/romance series. Very unique kind of harem. Really recommend to give it a go. Manga is still ongoing.

Kuroko no Basket - great basketball series.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica - don't let the art deceive you, it is not Nanoha. Series deal with some dark themes as well as psychological. Deserves to be watch, at least check first 3 episodes.

Major - sport series about baseball. Since you watched Cross Game I think it could be of your liking.

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom - probably my most favorite series. It's about people who were forced to become professional assassins. Anime deal with dark themes and is not scared to kill people which you normally would avoid. You'll know what I mean once you watch it. Episode 5 raised huge amount of different opinions. A lot of people screamed that it is unfair and cruel but are assassins nice and fluffy? No, and this episode showed it clearly. Probably my fave episode.
Anime also has a lot of memorable soundtracks. It also has 3 arcs, each one with slightly different feel.

Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin - another great series about group of people who became friends while in prison. Series follow their imprisonment tome and when they are out. A lot of drama, abuse but also full of heartwarming moments. Some of them are very inspirational.

Shiki - cool series about a village where suddenly everyone start to die. Epidemic is suspected but is it really it? As a viewer you will know the problem almost from the start so it is more of being an observer. Someone who is forced to see others die without able to help them and give a clue. Characters have to do it themselves and in the end you will ask a question: Who is a real monster here?

Sword of the Stranger - nice movie with fantastic sword action scenes.


That's mostly it. I'm actually surprised that you didn't watch some of the titles.
Hope you will find something to your liking.

[mikejacobs]

Thanks Kitten, I have decided I will watch Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, Chiyaha and Phantom.

I actually watched onizuka about 7 times and read the manga about 5 times or so, probably more. I watched 6 eps of Madoka until I just gave up, just ran out of will to watch it (it wasn't bad, just me suffering from anime burn-out).

Read pretty much the whole kami (God only knows) manga, tried watching anime but the main characters voice just drove me off.

Tried watching Aria, oh dear, wanted to shoot myself after first episode, I'm just not patient with these types of anime anymore.

Tried watching Death Note a few times but didn't click with me.

But thanks for the recommendations though, I wouldn't mind more recco's.

[Kirito]

Why don't you give Kara no Kyoukai, Sora no Woto, and Canaan a shot if you're interested.

[mikejacobs]

Thanks, I will give Canaan a shot, was hesitate before to try it.

[zarqu]

Great suggestions above. Berserk is a classic, Rainbow is very good drama (some would say too melodramatic, but manly tears are beautiful) and Baccano! is great action.

First of all, the obvious: Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail (OVA series).

As for gems... Well. I'm going to suggest some of my more unconventional favourites:

Kuuchuu Buranko: A trippy (I mean, really) comedy about a therapist and his patients.

Serial Experiments Lain: A psychological sci-fi/cyberpunk drama. Some say very weird (and some even say pretentious [I love this new buzz word, lol]) but I say it's wonderful. It's very famous; you must've heard about it. Couldn't find it on your dropped list, though.

Texhnolyze: A psychological cyberpunk drama. It's dark and bleak. And I mean it. Dark (and deep for that matter) is a word often overused these days.

You gave Ergo Proxy and Neon Genesis Evangelion (why haven't you listed the End of Evangelion movie anywhere?) a 9, so Lain/Tex shouldn't be too far from your comfort zone.

And finally, Shigurui: Very similar to Texhnolyze. It's an atmospheric, brutal and mature samurai drama. No holds barred action wise. It also looks very good on Blu-ray.

The above shows are all very mature and unconventional. I recommend them because they are my favourites and they really made me appreciate animation as a medium with, essentially, limitless possibilities.

edit: Do tell if you've tried some of the above and not liked them, so we can move those to the dustbin of anime.

[SeijiSensei]

No Seirei no Moribito on that list I see. You should fix that soon. No Bakeneko or Mononoke either.

The biggest omission though is Monster.

[kitten320]

Originally Posted by mikejacobs

Thanks Kitten, I have decided I will watch Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, Chiyaha and Phantom.

I actually watched onizuka about 7 times and read the manga about 5 times or so, probably more. I watched 6 eps of Madoka until I just gave up, just ran out of will to watch it (it wasn't bad, just me suffering from anime burn-out).

Read pretty much the whole kami (God only knows) manga, tried watching anime but the main characters voice just drove me off.

Tried watching Aria, oh dear, wanted to shoot myself after first episode, I'm just not patient with these types of anime anymore.

Tried watching Death Note a few times but didn't click with me.

But thanks for the recommendations though, I wouldn't mind more recco's.

As I said Aria is a very calming show so it is not for everyone especially if you are into fast paced show full of bangs

[Sackett]

For sure check out Crest of the Stars and sequels

Penguindrum is probably a good choice.

Perhaps Martian Successor Nadesico?

I noticed A Certain Magical Index was missing. It's worth watching, but maybe not for someone who's tired of anime right now.

[mikejacobs]

Originally Posted by zarqu

Great suggestions above. Berserk is a classic, Rainbow is very good drama (some would say too melodramatic, but manly tears are beautiful) and Baccano! is great action.

First of all, the obvious: Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail (OVA series).

As for gems... Well. I'm going to suggest some of my more unconventional favourites:

Kuuchuu Buranko: A trippy (I mean, really) comedy about a therapist and his patients.

Serial Experiments Lain: A psychological sci-fi/cyberpunk drama. Some say very weird (and some even say pretentious [I love this new buzz word, lol]) but I say it's wonderful. It's very famous; you must've heard about it. Couldn't find it on your dropped list, though.

Texhnolyze: A psychological cyberpunk drama. It's dark and bleak. And I mean it. Dark (and deep for that matter) is a word often overused these days.

You gave Ergo Proxy and Neon Genesis Evangelion (why haven't you listed the End of Evangelion movie anywhere?) a 9, so Lain/Tex shouldn't be too far from your comfort zone.

And finally, Shigurui: Very similar to Texhnolyze. It's an atmospheric, brutal and mature samurai drama. No holds barred action wise. It also looks very good on Blu-ray.

The above shows are all very mature and unconventional. I recommend them because they are my favourites and they really made me appreciate animation as a medium with, essentially, limitless possibilities.

edit: Do tell if you've tried some of the above and not liked them, so we can move those to the dustbin of anime.

STarted watching Kuchuu Buranko, how the hell did you find this? I'm loving it but I'm starting to think whether LSD is a pre-requisite to fully enjoy it. Will try Texhnolyze. Tried to watch Serial Experiment Lain a few times, I enjoyed it but somehow I never get the will to watch next episode, probably because it feels like I missed 10 episodes when I do start a new one.

[zarqu]

I can't remember where I found it. I was probably just browsing MAL under the "Psychological" tag.

Don't know about LSD. One could say that about many works of art

[SeijiSensei]

Kuuchuu Buranko was not all that obscure at the time it was released. It was a highly-anticipated noitaminA show by Nakamura Kenji, his first since Mononoke. That show and its predecessor, the "Bakeneko" arc of Ayakashi Samurai Horror Tales, also have a remarkably "trippy" style. (Links in my posting above.) Personally I liked both those shows much more than Kuuchuu Buranko and more than Nakamura's next noitaminA installment, [C].

Nakamura's most recent show, Tsuritama, about friendship, fishing, and aliens, is probably his most accessible. It has actually outsold the highly-touted Sakamichi no Apollon which it ran alongside with on noitaminA despite that show's high-powered staff including director Watanabe Shinichirou and composer Kanno Yoko.

Some of Nakamura's team at Toei worked on an adaptation of the famous manga GeGeGe no Kitarou for noitaminA called Hakaba Kitarou. That's another hard-to-find show despite having the highest viewing numbers of any series ever aired in that slot. It also had one of my top picks for OP ot the year in 2008, Mononoke Dance, and an art style that emphasized its comic-book origins. I found the visuals more compelling than the story itself.

You might also take a look a Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei, also made for noitaminA by Yuasa Masaaki, known for shows like Mind Game, Kemonozume, and Kaiba. Those shows all have very distinctive visual styles as well.

If you're looking for interesting visuals, I'll also suggest Lupin III/Mine Fujiko which hews closely to its roots in the Lupin series from the 1960s but integrates a more modern design sensibility as well.