Fifteen Good Anime

[Lettow77]

 As I was showering, I thought i'd give languish a summation of good anime series. I don't quite feel confident enough to rank them, but I will list thirty I have enjoyed immensely,  their plot, & so on. Largely inspired by Neil's statement that he doesn't watch much anime anymore. Not all of these will appeal to Neil or languish, and if I think they won't i'll say so, but I enjoyed them all a lot.

No particular order, but movies and unfinished series are disqualified from the running, as they belong in a separate sphere.


Serial Experiments Lain- a thirteen episode anime largely about the internet, or the internet's future was it was conceived in the 90's. Deals with things like uploading consciousness online, the power of viral communication, and the blurring distinctions between reality offline and reality online. Mindbend-y, and very cool.


Tatami Galaxy- another short runner at eleven episodes, focuses on a nameless protagonist's college experience and his pursuit of happiness there. Extremely thoughtful, innovative art style, and contains some wonderful dialogue, although be advised they seemed to be going for a motormouth effect and it is brutal on we who read subtitles. The way the episodes relate to one another is original and well-executed.


K-on!, with 36 present episodes. A fluffy show about nothing. Or rather, ostensibly it is about the activities of a high school light music club, but there is never any real drama. It is a soft series with no violence, sexuality, or much in the way of real life problems. It is calming and delightful. Languish will probably not like it, but it is an excellent example of a well-received Moé anime. The entertainment comes from the characters' interactions with one another and almost nothing else- which will not make it unique on this list.


Azumanga Daioh, with twenty six episodes
The most successful "sketch comedy" type of anime, derived (like K-on) from four-panel comic strips. It is charming, and one smiles throughout. Can be seen as a kind of predecessor to K-on!, albeit one with more of a penchant for the absurd and embracing a larger cast. Probably less accessible to non-anime fans than K-on!.


24 episodes, Spice & Wolf focuses on a travelling merchant in a generic medieval setting who encounters a goddess of agriculture who accompanies him. This is less significant than it sounds- really, she just gets on the cart and chats with him about economics, enjoying a simple mortal life. Their arguing and his financial schemes make for good entertainment. It's a clever little anime.


Eden of the East has only eleven episodes, although its plot is continued by two movies beyond the purview of this review.
A man stands outside the white house with a gun and a cellphone that gives him access to just over 8 billion yen, and no memories about his life. He is part of a social experiment giving himself and others such phones, with instructions to use the money to re-shape modern Japan for the better, and an open-ended path to decide what that means. This anime has a good wider scope and personal one as well; I enjoyed it thoroughly and found myself burning through it faster than planned because I couldn't wait to see what happened next.


Cowboy Bebop is a classic. 26 episodes, only a fraction of which advance the plot. An intriguing cast in a realistic space setting. Musical theme to each episode, and some of the best music & dubbing to be found in Anime. Watching it, you could easily get the idea it was not Japanese, but an American construct.


House of Five Leaves is a melancholy, subtle, and artistic twelve-episode anime anime. It moves very slowly, and is a realistic period piece from the Edo era. Don't come expecting much action, but a great deal of emotion is expressed with great economy. It helped me out in a very sad time- I love this anime, and nobody else appreciates it enough, mostly because it lacks the fanservice or action most anime fans expect to encounter.


Mushishi is 26 episodes of slow-paced art. It feels very dreamlike, and can be a little whimsical, although its tone is not light. Draws upon traditional Japanese Mythology a lot. Like House of Five Leaves, fell under the radar because it didn't stoop to the masses, but its amazing artistic vision wins it more attention than poor House of Five Leaves gets.


At 26 Episodes, Neon Genesis Evangelion is an old classic that ended the epoch of Mecha for all intents and purposes with this thorough deconstruction. Hugely influential, and looking at it it isn't hard to see why. It's ending has received a couple movies, and the series is currently being re-done entirely into four films. When they are completely, I expect to fall in love with the series again. The ending is open to interpretation.


Speaking of deconstructions, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a less optimistic look at the Magical Girl genre, and is riveting. It has only just been finished, and is the darling of anime circles on the internet right now, receiving enormous amounts of acclaim. It will be an uphill battle for any anime in 2011 to best this one, although i'm excited to see what efforts are made.


Arakawa Under the Bridge is a thirteen episode comedy about homeless life under the bridge of the Arakawa river. The love interest is an interesting re-examination of the manic pixie dream girl archetype, and it is a genuinely funny anime. The Protagonist's role as a straight man is increasingly called into question, and clear character growth exists in the series, which is nice to see. It ends up being something of a commentary on society, albeit an absurd one.


Welcome to the NHK!- 24 episodes
Japan has a growing problem with shut-ins who are neither employed nor pursuing an education, and the protagonist of this anime belongs to that group. A pretty realistic look at being a loser, basically. Also has subtropes of mental health and conspiracies. Raz reminds me of this anime.


Paranoia Agent is a thirteen episode anime that is variously a crime mystery and a psychological narrative. It gets odd, but it is worth the time. The director is primarily known for his movies, and he has just left us. It is a real shame nothing more will come of such a great mind- this is an insightful and interesting anime, and hardly the only thing to Satoshi Kon's name that can justly be called such.


FLCL has just six episodes, and was an experiment. Gainax wanted to see just how much they could get away with, and it's hard to argue if they got away with it or not. It's certainly interesting to watch, and features some unique animation. Let's just call the show a metaphor for puberty.


This is by no means an exhaustive list; I could come up with fifteen more. I even neglected to mention a couple favourites here, but fifteen is such a nice number and I am not sure what languish's response will be. If any of these sound interesting to you, they are all worth your time.

[CountDeMoney]

Locked like a motherfucker.

[Neil]

Why would I want to lock this thread?  I don't get it?

[CountDeMoney]

Isn't one animetard in your prison yard assrape stable enough for you, Neil?  Do you really need another one?

[Neil]

Is it so wrong to be interested in Lettow's thoughts on anime?

[jimmy olsen]

I agree with you on Azumanga Daioh, Cowboy Beebop and FLCL. Great animes. Liked what I saw of Serial Experiments Lain as well.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is completely overrated.

Other great animes
Trust & Betrayal (OVA for Rurouni Kenshin)
Full Metal Alchemist (Brotherhood)
Samurai Champloo
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Basilisk
GTO
Gunslinger Girl
Gunsmith Cats
Last Exile
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi
Ghost in the Shell (The movie and the series)
Akira

[CountDeMoney]

OK, since my locking of the thread was overruled by a Canadian with obvious anime sympathies and universal healthcare, I'm just going to spend it denigrating Lettow the ignorant ass retrofuck.

Lettow, you ignorant assfuck, you're too stupid to realize that
1) not only have you missed the animetard hipness boat by about 17 fucking years you inbred assfuck, but
2) we're already up to our collective asses with Timmay's retarded ass Special Olympic-sized anime fetishism, which already enjoys the full faith and credit of Neil.

Now go do something useful, like getting a motorcyle license so you can hit a jersey barrier at 80mph with your fucking face.  You fuck.  You stupid fuck.  Hope you're raped by a rabid community activist.

Squee.

[katmai]

Is it so wrong to be interested in Lettow's thoughts on anime?

yes

[CountDeMoney]

Is it so wrong to be interested in Lettow's thoughts on anime?

Yeah.  Yeah it is.  Mew.

[CountDeMoney]

I agree with you on Azumanga Daioh, Cowboy Beebop and FLCL. Great animes. Liked what I saw of Serial Experiments Lain as well.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is completely overrated.

Other great animes
Trust & Betrayal (OVA for Rurouni Kenshin)
Full Metal Alchemist (Brotherhood)
Samurai Champloo
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Basilisk
GTO
Gunslinger Girl
Gunsmith Cats
Last Exile
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi
Ghost in the Shell (The movie and the series)
Akira

I fucking rest my fucking case.

[Lettow77]

I agree with you on Azumanga Daioh, Cowboy Beebop and FLCL. Great animes. Liked what I saw of Serial Experiments Lain as well.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is completely overrated.

Other great animes
Trust & Betrayal (OVA for Rurouni Kenshin)
Full Metal Alchemist (Brotherhood)
Samurai Champloo
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Basilisk
GTO
Gunslinger Girl
Gunsmith Cats
Last Exile
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi
Ghost in the Shell (The movie and the series)
Akira

Of what you put-
Haruhi, Gunsmith Cats, and Ghost in the Shell all would've gone in if I expanded the list just a liiittle bit more.

Actually, languish would probably appreciate Gunsmith Cats more than most, so maybe that was an omission on my part. Haruhi is the last thing they need to be introduced to, though.

Akira is great obviously, but it's a movie, and movies may receive their own thread later.

Last Exile and Basilisk are on my backlog. 

Samurai Champloo I like but am obligated to not like for ideological reasons. Can't go against the party line.

I really dislike GTO though. No accounting for taste.

Edit: To CDM, it's interesting you say I missed the boat. When listing most of the anime I felt were worth Languish's attention, I couldn't help but notice how many were released in the last couple years. Anime is still prospering as a medium, and will do so into the forseeable future, I think.

[Neil]

The Kenshin OVAs were massively overrated.

[Syt]

I really enjoyed Legend of Galactic Heroes. No superpowers, no high school kids, no giant robots - just a story driven by human behavior and ambition, combined with Napoleonic warfare ... IN SPACE!

Ergo:Proxy was excellent as well, if esoteric in its psychological/existentialist depth. I recommend getting a fan subbed version, because it has quite good explanations and definitions of the subject matter at the end of each episode.

[Ideologue]

I've never gotten the love for FLCL; it's not hard to tell if they got away with it, they didn't; it's objectively terrible.

Otherwise, Lettow's opinions are as far as I can tell generally correct, with the minor caveat that Eva, while entertaining and even interesting, is probably best appreciated from a certain ironic distance, which is to say I enjoyed it more as the documentary evidence of a creator losing his fucking mind.  Of the ones I haven't seen, Welcome to the NHK is the only one that I feel like I need to watch at some point.  (And, yes, from my knowledge of it, it is quite Razgovoryish.  Oh, except there's a girl in it.)

[jimmy olsen]

The Kenshin OVAs were massively overrated.

What!? Name one OVA or anime movie that tops it.