Anime Recommendation?

[Nim]

Ok, so I've been trying to get someone I know to watch anime with me but it's been very hit or miss so far. So I'm asking for help thinking up anime that I can try to provide that she might like.

Some anime I know that she liked:
-Ghost Hunt (She actually asked me if/when there would be a second season).
-Card Captor Sakura (She said she liked the interaction between Sakura and her father).
-The movies of Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, ect...).
-Bleach (Specifically Chad was her favorite character and one she still comments on).

Some things I know she's not very interested in:
-Excessive Violence (Bleach levels of violence seem fine, I expect Higurashi levels would not be).
-"Stupid" Comedy (she practicly stood up and left when Tomo, of Azumanga Daioh, got her intro sequence).
-"Slow" shows (I tried to show her Kanon 2006 but she only got an episode or two in and grew impatient).
-She's complained fairly frequently that most of the anime I show her are about high school kids so something with older characters might help.

Hmmm, I can't think of anything else at the moment. So, if this list sparks an idea for anyone please feel free to offer suggestions. I would appreciate it.

[Telmah]

Interesting that she doesn't like slow shows but liked Ghost Hunt because I thought that was fairly slow myself. Maybe it has something to with the development or the plot? I am really curious now. Maybe it wasn't the slow part of Kanon but the harem?

5 Centimeters Per Second--movie, though it can be slow, its short because of that. Amazing animation, really hits upon the fundmental idea of how humans deal with distant relationships..nothing supernatural. I'd also suggest another ova by Makoto Shinkai, Voices of a Distant Star--is only 30 minutes but has more depth than most anime.

Honey and Clover maybe? It's about poor college students, a drama. Fairly popular because it is fairly well done...one of the characters is slightly over the top however. Worth a look.

The Girl That Leapt Through Time--yeah high school and yeah, a generic premise, but amazingly well executated. It doesn't try to be original, instead it tries to entertain and does so with flying colors. It's a blast through and through.

Dennou Coil--its a slow show but forgiving that, it is like a Miyazaki film in terms of character design and quality. Amazing animation, very mysterious film, slick action scenes...somewhat philosophical, deals with the issues of what is reality and what is not.

Maybe Ghost Hound? It is again a mysterious show, unfortunately with young characters. It deals with psychological concepts--it is about a kid that was kidnapped when he was younger, along with his sister...his sister died and he's trying to recover years later--he starts having out of body experiences.

[Nim]

I don't think it was the harem aspect simply because we didn't get far enough in to really see more then one (or at most two) of the girls. Still it's possible the opening might have done it or something.
It's also possible she might have been impatient because she really just disliked something else about it (or just didn't feel like watching anime that day), I can't be sure.

Otherwise, I know I've seen a bit of Honey & Clover but don't remember much about it anymore and the others I've never seen so I'll definatly have to check them out.

More suggestions are, of course, still welcome if anything comes to mind.

[SeijiSensei]

My first recommendation would be Nodame Cantabile, with college-aged classical musicians as the main characters. If you despise classical music, you probably won't enjoy this show, otherwise it has a nice mix of comedy, drama, and romance. It's actually not simply a "romantic comedy" but addresses issues of personal fullfillment as well.

A very different show that might appeal to you both is Monster, a thriller set in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. The main character is a Japanese neurosurgeon working in a German hospital. His decision to save a young boy has horrible ramifications that he later tries to rectify. At 74 episodes, it's a long haul, but if you find it to your taste, you'll probably inhale the whole series in just a few sittings.

Next you might try REC, also a comedy-drama and more romantic than Nodame. The main characters are an 18-yo wannabie voice actress and a young marketing executive.

If you're looking for an adventure, I'd recommend Seirei no Moribito, with a powerful 30-ish spear-carrying female bodyguard who becomes the protector of a young prince. Not much romance, but a good dose of politics and adventure. Not really very violent for the most part, though there are some excellently animated fighting scenes in a few of the episodes. The same author also wrote the novel Kemono no Souja Erin which is currently in release. This is a show aimed at children but, like Dennou Coil, has a lot of material of interest to adults. About half of its fifty episodes have been aired, and most of those are subbed.

Finally you might give Genji Monogatari Sennenki a try, a recent show based on the famous 1,000-year-old Japanese novel by the Lady Murasaki. All the characters are adults, and the story concerns the romantic and sexual adventures of Prince Genji. No violence at all, though the characters do spend quite a bit of time not wearing their kimonos.

[Nim]

I remember seeing an episode ot two of Monster when it was being aired but never really picked it up and I'm not sure why. At least I know length won't be a problem, after all both Sakura and Bleach are fairly lengthy series themselves.
The others each look quite interesting as well, especially Nodame, so I guess this means I'll need to be spending more money in the near future .

Anyway thank you both for these great suggestions.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Nim

The others each look quite interesting as well, especially Nodame, so I guess this means I'll need to be spending more money in the near future .

All the shows I mentioned are unlicensed and only available as fansubs with the exception of Moribito. That's currently airing on [adult swim], but you'd need to catch up first, and you wouldn't get to hear Andou Mabuki's excellent performance as Balsa.

[Nim]

Oh, I know. Still I try and buy anime that I like so for the ones not available yet it'll be a wait but I'll be spending none the less. For others like Telmuh's Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo recommendation, I'll be buying that a bit sooner likely.

Hearing that Moribito is on Adult Swim is kinda surprising though. The last time I looked at Adult Swim (quite a while ago now admittedly) they were on a more sci-fi/modern kick. Maybe I'll need to give that another look as well.

[Haak]

She may like Welcome to the NHK.

[qwertyuiopz]

show her school days
that'll teach her >


she has weird tastes but by the looks of it she likes shows that get to the point and suck you in

sengoku basara
soul eater
wagaya no oinari-sama
haruhi suzumiya (maybe)

[synaesthetic]

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha will make her hate all other magical girl shows for being insufficiently awesome. No further explanation is needed.

Shion no Ou she would probably like, I found it extremely entertaining for a show about Japanese chess (and murder). While the protagonist is a child, it's played much more realistically since it isn't a fantastic setting or a story about battles. And almost none of the story takes place at her school.

The Daughter of Twenty Faces is very, very entertaining, has great animation and a likable, intelligent protagonist who actually adheres to some age-related limitations. Most of the cast are adults, save for Chiko and Shunka. Again, while Chiko is young, very little of the story is school-day drama.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Nim

Oh, I know. Still I try and buy anime that I like so for the ones not available yet it'll be a wait but I'll be spending none the less. For others like Telmuh's Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo recommendation, I'll be buying that a bit sooner likely.

I doubt you'll ever have the opportunity to purchase any of the shows I mentioned. Viz keeps shopping Monster around, and rumor has it that it might appear on Funimation's cable/satellite TV channel. I'll believe it when I see it. I doubt we'll ever see REC, Genji, or Erin licensed in R1. I'm most surprised that Nodame has not been licensed, since it's become a veritable franchise in Japan with manga, anime, and live-action versions. Still, shows about classical musicians probably don't ring cash registers in the US.

Hearing that Moribito is on Adult Swim is kinda surprising though. The last time I looked at Adult Swim (quite a while ago now admittedly) they were on a more sci-fi/modern kick. Maybe I'll need to give that another look as well.

It's a decision that I think Turner regretted. The first time it was aired they only showed ten of the 26 episodes and then stopped, arguably because the dubs weren't finished. [as] promises to show the entire series this time around, but they've already switched its time-slot at least once. It's just not a show that's going to appeal to the typical [adult swim] viewer. It's much too slow and talky with hardly any "action" for long periods of time. The mishandling of Moribito by Geneon and its partners could be an effective business-school case study, especially considering the show was originally conceived as the initial offering of high-class anime for worldwide audiences.

I thought about mentioning NHK, Shion, and Twenty Faces as well. NHK probably has more appeal to experienced anime viewers since it parodies otaku and "NEETs" (young people "not in education, employment, or training." NEETs play a key role in the recent Eden of the East as well.) Shion has a very bloody opening scene, which is repeated a couple of times, but the rest of the show is pretty much free of violence. Daughter of Twenty Faces got off to a great start but lost its way around the midpoint and became a bit too cliched for me. I also left Baccano! off the list because it can be brutally violent at times. Depending on your friend's violence quotient, Kure-nai could be a good choice. Despite the occasional high-school scenes, and main characters aged 16 and 8, it's mostly an adult show with adult issues.

I'll toss out one more show that tends to the "cheesy" at times but has a very entertaining, and well-acted, main couple -- Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo.

[synaesthetic]

I always thought Daughter of Twenty Faces started off cliche, with the whole gentleman thief motif, and then went into awesome techno-thriller-with-anachronism-stew after the wham episode 6.

[cerrian]

Higashi no Eden will probably grab her attention right off the bat. Good mixture of comedy and mystery with a number of interesting characters.

Toradora is another good option. On the downside it is about high school characters but the tsundere comedy and the later heart wrenching relationships really carry the show. It doesn't hurt that the animation was top notch too.

There's Vampire Knight if you're looking for a bishounen, male harem, vampire fix.

Skip Beat is another bishounen romantic comedy that has done a great job of appealing to a very wide audience.

edit - for a movie try checking out Millennium Actress

[Shadow Kira01]

Here are some suggestions that are similar to Ghost Hunt but she may not like some of them which I will explain in more detailed:

Ayakashi: I haven't watched this one yet but the story seems to be very similar to Ghost Hunt which also explains why it is currently in my "on-hold" list. She can give it a try..

Rental Magica: The protagonist (cv. Fukuyama Jun) is only capable when he is using his Glam Sight. Otherwise, the guy is useless. The anime does feature ecchi elements and is more of a love comedy as opposed to Ghost Hunt which was something like Umineko yet not exactly..

Shounen Onmyouji: Your friend will most likely watch this one of all my suggestions but one problem is that the protagonist is a bit young. His grandfather is the famous Abe no Seimei.

tactics: The protagonist seems to be rather stupid, even though his partner which is a formerly sealed crane spirit makes a better protagonist. However, there are love comedy elements involving Haruka and Suzu-chan (cv. Mizuki Nana) which explains why he is not suitable to be the protagonist. Thus, she might not like the anime.

Tokyo Majin Gakuen: The first season is very similar to Ghost Hunt in various aspects but that changes in second season. Second season is a continuation of the story. For the first season, there are quite a lot of battles but they are more like the type from Ghost Hunt as opposed to Umineko which your friend may like.

Wagaya no Oinari-sama: This one is similar as Rental Magica on a number of aspects but it is more of a comedy as that all the deities tend to play around too much. One of the local deities launch an attack at the main characters in one of the episodes due to lack of donations and that they cannot destroy their own shrine to receive government fundings for repairs. Thus, they trick the main characters into destroying the shrine, so repairs will grant them extra spending money. Not sure if your friend will like this..

[Nim]

Originally Posted by Haak

She may like Welcome to the NHK.

While I don't think a quick explaination about what a NEET is would be a problem, I didn't show her this one when I had the chance because frankly I was embarressed. A number of sequences in the show would make me squirm in my seat watching with her so... Yeah . Thank you for the suggestion though.

Originally Posted by qwertyuiopz

show her school days
that'll teach her >

she has weird tastes but by the looks of it she likes shows that get to the point and suck you in

sengoku basara
soul eater
wagaya no oinari-sama
haruhi suzumiya (maybe)

I don't know alot about the first four so I'll give them a look.

Haruhi is one I semi tried. Basicly I tried to get her to read the first book but that went exactly nowhere (It could very well be that she doesn't want to read a book on the computer), at the same time I'm pretty sure the MikuruxHaruhi scenes wouldn't go over very well, and I'm worried about the pacing (though it's been long enough now I don't remember how fast the show was originally)... Maybe I'm overthinking this...

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha will make her hate all other magical girl shows for being insufficiently awesome. No further explanation is needed.

Shion no Ou she would probably like, I found it extremely entertaining for a show about Japanese chess (and murder). While the protagonist is a child, it's played much more realistically since it isn't a fantastic setting or a story about battles. And almost none of the story takes place at her school.

The Daughter of Twenty Faces is very, very entertaining, has great animation and a likable, intelligent protagonist who actually adheres to some age-related limitations. Most of the cast are adults, save for Chiko and Shunka. Again, while Chiko is young, very little of the story is school-day drama.

While I love Nanoha quite a bit, I worry that it's not really the same as Sakura (Not that I want it to be the same. I mean I'm worried the appeal won't be the same.). I take her at her word when she says what she liked about sakura was the character interaction between Sakura and her father/brother/ect... (in fact I'd probably be willing to place money on the fact that Mr. Kinomoto is a very large part of why she watched the show). There are other things I worry about but at this point I know I'm overthinking it and I'll just shut up and try it. Better to try and fail then not try at all.

The other two I'll have a look at.

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I doubt you'll ever have the opportunity to purchase any of the shows I mentioned. Viz keeps shopping Monster around, and rumor has it that it might appear on Funimation's cable/satellite TV channel. I'll believe it when I see it. I doubt we'll ever see REC, Genji, or Erin licensed in R1. I'm most surprised that Nodame has not been licensed, since it's become a veritable franchise in Japan with manga, anime, and live-action versions. Still, shows about classical musicians probably don't ring cash registers in the US.

Hmmm, well one can only hope for these things.

Also thank you for the very informative posts regarding Adult Swim and some of the other suggestions. I'm not terribly worried about the violence levels for most of these shows to be honest. As long as it's not pretty constant/extreme (dismemberment)/torture I think it wouldn't be an issue. I'll be watching all of these before I offer them anyway.

Originally Posted by cerrian

Higashi no Eden will probably grab her attention right off the bat. Good mixture of comedy and mystery with a number of interesting characters.

Toradora is another good option. On the downside it is about high school characters but the tsundere comedy and the later heart wrenching relationships really carry the show. It doesn't hurt that the animation was top notch too.

There's Vampire Knight if you're looking for a bishounen, male harem, vampire fix.

Skip Beat is another bishounen romantic comedy that has done a great job of appealing to a very wide audience.

edit - for a movie try checking out Millennium Actress

Eden I had for a bit. I think that would likely be a good choice.

Toradora, I'm worried that she doesn't really like Tsundere comedy, nor if I remember is she all that into a romance. Still, I do have it and I guess I should give it more consideration.

The others I'll definatly take a look at.

Edit:@ShadowKira01,

Those all look quite good. Thank you very much for the suggestions. I know at the very least I'll be watching most of those .

[Sasano]

Well it would probably be easier if we knew, what type of person she is, but I have a few suggestions out of the blue.

Aishiteruze Baby : Its Hschool but its about the main "playboy" character gets stuck taking care of a 5 year old until they can find her disapeareed mother.Its pretty much about the main character learning to be a Parent figure all though it does have romance & other side plots.The show is not AMAZING but is pretty good...

Scrapped Princess Has a medieval fantasy setting, were the main character is destined to destroy the world, thus is the target of assasination as her Brother & Sister act as bodyguards.

The plot gets REALLY interesting and it has a good combination of genres(comedy,drama,action,etc) avoiding a lot of cliches in the process.

[qwertyuiopz]

Lol im joking about school days

[synaesthetic]

I'd forgotten all about Scrapped Princess. Good recommendation, that show is one of my favorite sleepers along with Soukou no Strain.

Very good story involving post-apocalyptic themes and invoking Clarke's third law even better than Nanoha does plus pretty animation.

[Asfad]

Seems like she likes shows that heavily emphasize character development, particularly between family in the case of CCS. Here's a few of my recommendations:

Natsume Yuujinchou: I'd give this one a shot first. Has a nice child/parent dynamic like in CCS and a supernatural element like Ghost Hunt.

Honey and Clover: I highly second the recommendation for this one. Make sure she watches more than 1 or 2 episodes and she'll be hooked.

Clannad: This one has a big focus on family relationships (or lack thereof), especially in the second season. May pick up interest on this one faster than Kanon 2006.

Mushishi: Has a pretty likeable main char and supernatural elements.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Nim

While I don't think a quick explaination about what a NEET is would be a problem, I didn't show her this one when I had the chance because frankly I was embarressed. A number of sequences in the show would make me squirm in my seat watching with her so... Yeah . Thank you for the suggestion though.
.

I was gonna ask how old she was but nvm.