Humble Request for Suggestions

[Laone]

I'm relatively new to anime and forum worlds, and I have read the rules. I hope my question isn't breaking any of those rules as i don't wish to make anyone grumpy.

I'd like to explain my quandry...
I am a 30+ female who is VERY picky about what I can and cannot watch. What I am concerned about: I think I am running out of anime.

I prefer the more cerebral types, the ones that make ya think, like Lain, BoogiePop, Now and Then Here and There. I also like "adult" type humor such as MSA. I truly like the samurai x trio and I like other anime such as Saiyuki, WHR, FMP, X tv series and Twelve Kingdoms, Cowboy Bebop. It seems I gravitate to the 15and up suggested age in the anime I prefer.

SOOOO...In y'all's opinions, what other anime would you suggest?

To give a better idea to wheedle down all the anime out there...I've tried Excel but the voices are too squeaky. I tried Haibane, not interested. I tried Please Teacher, nope. Supergals, nada. GTO tolerable. His and Her, ok. Escaflowne series, nuh-uh.

It's getting expensive to keep buying disks that i only watch once and can only sell for 1/2 of what I paid for. I honestly feel as though I am reaching the end of my possibilities...I don't wanna have to resort to Hello Kitty just to get a fix.

So if anyone would be interested, please feel free to PM me and give me suggestions, or answer here if you wish. My local anime store workers have given up on suggesting things to me.

I'll be the first to admit, I have very ecclectic tastes...and some people say I like depressing/serious anime, but I don't view it that way. But if anyone has any depressing/serious suggestions or even sophisticated/adult comedy, PLEASE let me know.

Ones i have recently considered but not purchased: Berserk, Devil Lady, Bubblegum Crisis, Rahxephon, Evangelion, Wolf's Rain, Zion, and The Big O.

Thanks everyone !

[xris]

I'll move this into the Suggestions forum, as it seem more appropriate than here. I'm not to sure if you are asking for DVDs releases only or if you would like the suggestions to include fansubs. But one advantage with fansubs is that at least you can download a couple of episodes and sample the series to see if it's what you're looking for.

As for suggestions from the available series you can download...
Shingetsutan Tsukihime
Condor Hero

Of the more recent licensed series (which you will not find as fansubs), maybe
Last Exile
Read or Die (OVA and TV)
Kaze no Yojimbo

[babbito2k]

Originally Posted by Laone

... i have recently considered but not purchased: Berserk, Devil Lady, Bubblegum Crisis, Rahxephon, Evangelion, Wolf's Rain, Zion, and The Big O.

Which BGC are you referring to? There are 3 titles. BGC: Tokyo 2040 is the best of the 3; the other 2 aren't worth spending money on.

edit: BGC: Tokyo 2040 is a very good series with strong female characters and an above-average SFnal story.

Berserk is cruel and violent but fascinating. However the plot runs on well past the end of the animated series, which can be frustrating for some people.

Evangelion is the template for stuff like Lain. The more of that stuff you watch, the more it is a bad imitation of Evangelion. Avenger (which you can download here) is that kind of show. Lots of people liked it.

I can't imagine where you got the idea to watch Super Gals!

[SomeName]

An adult-type show that I'd suggest which is available on AnimeSuki is PlanetES. It's not something cerebral, it's more a realistic take on life in space in the future. Fairly mature, episodic for the most part, and thoroughly enjoyable in my opinion.

Another would be Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien. Think... soap opera meets anime.

Yet another.. and a total shot in the dark for a suggestion, Twin Spica. A well written, touching series about a little girl reaching for her dreams.

For the licensed stuff.. and of a cerebral type, there's Ghost in the Shell, and its recent series, GITS: Stand Alone Complex. Both are fairly well regarded.

To comment on the mentioning of Berserk and Last EXILE. Berserk is for the most part, a medieval war story., with the underlying themes of dreams and destiny. Dark, violent - and entertaining. Last EXILE is visually stunning - the best visuals I've seen in an anime. The story doesn't hold any very deep meanings, but I found the adventure to be quite enjoyable to watch.

[Sepiraph]

Hey Laone, we seem to have similar taste in anime (or movie in general). ^_^

Ones i have recently considered but not purchased: Berserk, Devil Lady, Bubblegum Crisis, Rahxephon, Evangelion, Wolf's Rain, Zion, and The Big O.

Basically what others have already said, I'd also second the suggestion for Berserk (despite what it may appear when u watch the intro. song and the 1st episode).

I totally loved RahXephon, although it'll take a few episodes to get into and the story can be confusing at times.

Wolf Rain has a very "mature" feel to it, although I felt that it was lacking in the character development as the series progresses.

As for Evangelion, people either really love it or hate it so it is hard to say whether one will like it or not.

As for the others, I dont think Bubblegum Crisis is what u are looking for, although I have only faint memory of that anime. Haven't seen Devil Lady, Zion or The Big O so I can't commend on them.

[Neon01]

I'm in a similar position. Although as a guy, there's plenty of junk out there that can entertain me when I'm in between the greats.

I saw Evangelion about 6 years ago and I absolutely adore the series. It has some of the best character development you'll ever see in anime, and the plot has so much depth that you'll actually want to discuss it with others to get more takes. Unfortunately the characters in it have very annoying traits, but this is true to life! What bothers me about most anime trying to take itself seriously is when a character undergoes a complete personality shift catalyzed by one conversation or event (e.g. mom and dad died at a young age -> feelings of abandonment causing dysfunctional romantic life -> meaningful dialogue with wise individual -> presto-chango well-adjusted social behavior; that sort of thing). This is BS...deep down we all know nothing ever occurs that way. Evangelion (in some regards) breaks this mold. Very philosophical too, I think you'd like it very much.

Another I wholeheartedly recommend would be RahXephon. Many claim this is an obvious forgery of Evangelion, but they've apparently only seen the first few episodes. This series emphasizes romance, while keeping plenty of good clean adventure and mystique.

Doesn't seem like you enjoy romance as much, but if you do, check out the manga I"s. You can actually read it online at www.anime-source.com. Very touching story of a boy going through high school, with realistic portrayal of female emotions and motivations (!!)

Also, if you're growing tired of buying everything you want to see like I did, try renting. I'm lucky in that I have an extremely well-stocked anime rental store nearby (northern VA has everything ), but if you don't have access to that, try the mail service GreenCine (or Netflix). GreenCine has just about any anime series you'd ever want to rent, and for $20 a month you get unlimited rentals of 3 movies at a time. Netflix has a more well established system, offering better turnaround times on the movies, but a much more restricting anime selection. Both are the same price (and offer many pricing levels depending on how many movies you want to view at a time). Personally I'm a member of both

Hope this helps

[Laone]

Thanks everyone! I truly appreciate the input. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one w/ eclectic taste in anime. Sometimes it does get lonely....

As for why I tried Supergals...lets just say even I to this day wonder why. I typically look at the "suggested viewing age" on the back and it was higher than 13years, so that's why...probably. Most likely it was a lapse of reason in a dire attempt to find something to watch over the weekend.

I was looking at the BG Tokyo, because I was unaware that there were different ones. My little local anime store only carries so much. From what was said, I prolly would stay away from any of those unless totally willing to take a risk and be ok w/ not liking it.

W/ all the info about Berserk, I think i'd prolly love it...as I really enjoyed Samurai X and grafic samurai type tales, and from what was said it is similar to Ninja Scroll the movie, which I enjoyed.

Rahxephon would be my first Mecha to purchase, as FMP doesn't really qualify for mecha. Glad to hear the story is complex...that is always a plus. I don't mind taking out a pen and paper to keep track of people/things.

Since i'm so new to animessuki and the anime world, i'm not totally sure what fansubs are. i'll check into that and the suggestions given.

So again, thank you everyone. Some anime was listed that i've never heard of before, so I am eager to try and find it. If you think of anything else, please post! I wrote everything down and will pursue confident purchases!!!!

oh one more question...anyone watch Pretear? what's your take on that? (got the freebie disk in Newtype a while ago...and not sure if it goes all "magical girl" or not.)

[wao]

If you haven't watched Evangelion, what are you doing here? Go watch it now!


I will try to keep this post free of Princess Tutu plugs (oh I tell you, many adults like it, even though it may sound cheesy and cutesy and false in the first season, watch through the end and you realise it's got one of the best weaving of stories ever. It seems all fairy-tale like, but there are lots of rather meaningful underlying themes. Takes some time for one to notice it, though, because it seems to have such a cliche cover.)

Look! I succeeded! -_-


If you liked Samurai X and stuff (I love it too! Yay! Have you watched the OVAs? Have you? They are awesome.), you might want to try Scrapped Princess? It's pretty nice, and I suppose it does fit into the category you are looking at. I'm just trying to give a.... different kind of suggestion. >_>

[MrMonkey]

If you enjoyed FMP, you might find FMP?Fumoffu entertaining. Its different from the original series, in that it doesn't really have a running plot. Its focused on the "high school life" and relationship between sousuke and chidori and is very funny. And of course, since sousuke is anything BUT the testosterone charged whiny teenager that you so often get in these anime's, it makes a nice change.

Download the first ep and see, It's avaliable on fansub, so you don't really have much to lose except a bit of hard drive space.

[kj1980]

I may not be as much of help as I have no idea what is licensed and what is not in your country. However, I can give you several recommendations as a person in Japan, on animes to watch that may fit to your choices:

1. Early works made by GAINAX. These include: "Wing of Honneamise," "Nadia: Secret of Blue Water," "Top o Nerae! Gunbuster," and "Neon Genesis Evangelion." These are all masterpieces done mainly by director Anno Hideaki, who happens to incorporate much detail of psychology into science fiction. "Nadia: Secret of Blue Water" is loosely based on Jules Verne's "3000 Leagues Under the Sea." "Top o Nerae! Gunbuster" is a six-part OVA which is magnificently made by many animators who were young at the time, who are now mainly one of the top animators of anime we see today. And, as another had mentioned, "Neon Genesis Evangelion" happens to be the pivotal point in recent anime history as most anime today are correlated through the success and the mysteriousness that "Neon Genesis Evangelion" had put out, especially on the last several episodes.

2. Films by Oshii Mamoru. Probably in the Western world, he is best known for directing the film "Ghost in The Shell." However, I do recommend that you see his earlier work - "Urusei Yatsura Movie 3 - Beautiful Dreamer." A nostalgic and somewhat nightmarish version of Takahashi Rumiko's "Urusei Yatsura" in a "Twilight Zone"-esque theme of repeating the same day over and over again.

3. Kon Satoshi films. These include: "Perfect Blue," "Millennium Actress," "Tokyo Godfathers" and his latest TV series - "Mousou Dairinin - Paranoia Agent." He is a brilliant director who gorgeously puts together the inner emotional world of a character into a physical view to the viewer and the character in the anime itself. Though, "Perfect Blue" can be quite disturbing and very hard to keep up with mind-boggling repeated scenes of what is real and what is imaginary, the animation quality and the interesting layout of the story is quite interesting indeed. Unfortunately, from what I have been reading on this board, is the chances that you may not be able to get "fansubs" of "Mousou Dairinin" as it is already licensed in your country by the US division of Geneon Entertainment. But from what I have been viewing for the past two episodes, this is a promising series to watch due to its evocative nature.

[Slade xTekno]

I'd like to second Shingetsutan Tsukihime.
From the anime I see you describing, it'd be a pretty good choice.
It has a fantasy and adventure element, but I'd put it under romance/drama. Not a great deal of comedy, but this series will keep you thinking...
Good characters, very deep plot, and only 12 episodes! So its not too taxing on that hard drive.
Download the first two or three episodes and try it. Or even better, see the promo first.
It's fansubbed by AonE [gotwoot.net].

[asordidtale]

Have you checked out Witch Hunter Robin? It's a more serious type anime, i'm not sure if it's licensed yet or released in the US, if not you can get it off bittorrent.