Something different...

[theDarkHorse]

I'm looking for something a little different in anime now. I've sort of lost touch with this season's anime; none seem to appeal to me.

Anime that I like, plus reasons:

Haibane Renmei - a touching story, plus really good music! It's a story which I feel I could relate to.
Kino's Journey - Apart from the sense of adventure (which is really great), it's also thought provoking.
Last Exile - Er...See Kino's Journey. Plus big explosions, and cool looking vanships I wish I could fown and fly.
Bartender - Yes, I know I'm underage for drinking, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a good story - regardless of subject matter.
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien - Heartbreaking at times, but again, it's a story well told.
Porco Rosso - see Last Exile, Kino's Journey.
Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho - It's pretty! Otherwise, a good plot (even though parts didn't make sense) and excellent direction. And it's directed by Mr. Shinkai.
Hoshi no Koe - Plain good tear-jerker.
Azumanga Daioh - just because it's completely random and crazy. ^_^

Judging by my list, anything with eye candy, good music, or a decent storyline, no matter the genre, goes.

Dislikes: Mecha (made an exception for Hoshi no Koe, because that's really about people and love), magical stuff (e.g. Nanoha).

Er...please don't mention Naruto or One Piece or something like that. I really don't like anime like those. >.<''

So what haven't I seen that I should watch?

[Skyfall]

Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu - romance/drama/SciFi. If you like touching stories, this is for you.

Crest of the Stars (and all it's sequels). My no1 anime. SciFi/adventure/romance/action

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - horror/mystery. Creepy atmosphere with deep storyline. No2 anime in my list.

Futakoi Alternative - romance/comedy/drama. Random and Crazy ? You got it

Kanon - romance/drama/mystery(?) Eye candy, good music and decent storyline? Dig right in.

[Solace]

Check out Mushishi and Red Garden.

A warning on Red Garden, the first few episodes feature the characters performing a song, you may or may not like it. I urge you to stick with the show if you pick it up though, I'm also a fan of the series you posted and I found Red Garden to be outstanding. Don't let the songs in the first few eps put you off, they stop doing it after ep 4 or 5 (I forget exactly).

Mushishi is a very thought provoking anime but it's also very mellow. There is no big plot, each episode is one story, but somehow nothing ever feels bogged down or poorly paced. It's almost like watching a 26 episode ova.

[sukreih]

Akagi- Even the artwork itself is totally different. It's about Mahjongg, probably something you won't understand but it doesn't matter cuz the animation itself is really good. It's thought provoking, philosophical, dark, serious, cool... with a totally kickass protagonist.
In fact, here's an Akagi fansite made by ddragy for some more info.

[G. Zeus]

If Makoto Shinkai's works appeal to you, then you might also want to try out Yasuhiro Yoshiura's Pale Cocoon, Mizu no Kotoba, and perhaps even the (currently) elusive Eve no Jikan. While Yoshiura's stories aren't close to being as emotional as Shinkai's, they involve more philosophical concepts and it looks like the studio he's working with is trying to give Shinkai a run for his money in terms of visuals. Now if only they could get a composer like Tenmon, competition between the two might get really fierce.

Judging by the number of seinen titles in your list, you'd probably also enjoy Mushishi (as mentioned by ankoku), Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, and perhaps even ARIA to a certain extent.

[theDarkHorse]

Thanks for all the suggestions! =D

I think I'll try Mushishi and Iriya no Sora first up.

I'm not certain whether I'd identify myself in the seinen demographic...though I'm dead certain I'm not a typical sixteen-year-old shounen fan. I'm 16 though, can't really argue against that :P

[sothis]

you have similar tastes to me.

i strongly recommend Hi no Tori. it's also one of nosanninwa's favorites (notice one of the recs was from him! )

also Princess Arete or anything Studio 4C.

and for fantastic tragedies that most people don't know about: Oseam (korean), Dog of Flanders, and Windaria

[SeijiSensei]

If you're not old enough to drink, you're probably also not old enough to be working in an office yet. Nevertheless I suggest giving Hataraki Man a shot. It's certainly rather different from most other animes.

I agree with your general observation about this season's animes. Mostly I'm watching the continuations of Nodame Cantabile and Saiunkoku Monogatari.

Judging by my list, anything with eye candy, good music, or a decent storyline, no matter the genre, goes.

All the shows in my sig qualify in the storyline department, and most have good scores as well. For eye candy, I'd recommend Noein.

[winry039]

inuyasha, fullmetal alchemist

[miaka]

Ghost Hunt - based from mystery novel
Welcome to NHK

[Potatochobit]

somedays dreamers - this is magical stuff but set in the real world, no fantasy
its about an apprentice witch in modern times

mahoraba heartful days, kind of like azumanga

take alook at most of zeus' seections first they are all on target

[theDarkHorse]

I've watched Someday's Dreamers; I liked it, but not so much as to put it on my list above.

Mushishi's licensed though; I don't think I'm gonna get my hands on that any time soon.

Now if only I could find the others...Watching Iriya no Sora now, and it looks good so far (if one could make an informed opinion out of one episode).

[xxanimefan4_ever]

akazukin cha cha
kodomo no omocha
kaleido star

[Jazzrat]

I recommend Victorian Romance Emma. The first season is over and the second season just started not long ago. It's a romance anime based during the Victorian era (around 1800s?) in England. The style and directing is quite different from the usual mainstream animes.

For eye candies, Seirei no Moribito is a good one to try this season. It's an oriental fantasy novel adaptation by Kenji Kamiyama (who directed GitS tv series) and funded by NHK. There's a movie like quality to this series.

[Solace]

Toki wo Kakeru Shojo was just recently fansubbed and is quite good. Full length movie about a girl who can travel through time.

[mdauben]

Originally Posted by theDarkHorse

Haibane Renmei - a touching story, plus really good music! It's a story which I feel I could relate to.

I loved Haibane Renmei, but I have to admit I can't really think of any other anime that really compares to it. It was that unique.

Last Exile

The one series I watched recently that occures to me is Simoun. Perhaps not quite a thought provoking, but very pretty with cool flying machines, interesting characters all against the background of impending war. The main characters are all girls, so there is a bit of shoujo-ai implicit in the story, if that matters one way or another.

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien

What about Air or even better Kanon 2006. Both are very pretty series, with some nice music and at times heartbreaking. However, the stories and characters in both are fantastic.

Porco Rosso

How about every other Myazaki film ever made? I actually think of Porco Rosso as one of his "lesser" works (although that still makes it better than 90% of other anime), with films like Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away even better.

Azumanga Daioh -

The series Pani Poni Dash is and even more random and crazy school anime, but it is full of very obscure references to japanese culture and entertainment that most westerners, even die hard anime/manga fans, don't get. It's still pretty funny, but don't go into it expecting to understand everything. Probably the ultimate in "weird things going on at school" recently has been The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Full of weird events and screwy characters.

[Jazzrat]

How about every other Myazaki film ever made? I actually think of Porco Rosso as one of his "lesser" works (although that still makes it better than 90% of other anime), with films like Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away even better.

That's hard to say, I personally find Porco Rosso a lot better than Mononoke and Spirited Away. I knew a number of Miyazaki's fan who hails his older work like Nausicaa, Valley of Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Kiki's Delivery Service as the better anime that Miyazaki directed over the newer ones.

But if you like Porco Rosso/Miyazaki's style, then you really should check out the rest of the stuff he did.

[theDarkHorse]

@ankoku: I actually picked up the raw for TokiKake about a week ago, but I just haven't been bothered to download another 700megs for roxfan's sub right now. If someone has the softsub file, could they let me know please? ^^

I've found Miyazaki's works to be a mixed bag of sorts. I also liked Laputa and Kiki's Delivery Service, but I didn't really like Nausicaa or Totoro that much. Oddly enough, I've never watched Spirited Away (wtfomg?), so I should probably do that given enough time.

Smile, I'm Chinese. And I go to a school in Australia where practically 97% of the students are Asian. References aren't that hard for me to understand

[mdauben]

Originally Posted by Jazzrat

That's hard to say, I personally find Porco Rosso a lot better than Mononoke and Spirited Away.

Oh, yeah. I think that everything he has done is very good. It's really personal preference as to which you may like best. Although I personally I would probably put PR as the end of my own Mayazaki list, that does not mean I thought it was in any way bad, just that I like the others better.

[kayos]

Galaxy Angels... amazingly funny and cute, also packed with action. They have four series so far and all four are hilarious. Good job angels *two thumbs up*