The Best Buyable Anime

[Raiden]

Alright, normally I couldn't buy any Anime DVDs because there weren't any places that sold them near me, and I don't like to order stuff over the internet or through catalogs. But now, a SunPacific just opened up near me, and almost an entire half of their store is based on stuff like anime and manga! The question is, what do I buy first? I want a good anime, but nothing to violent. Blood is okay, but I kind of draw the line at having some mutated demon drink the bloody brains from the skull of a man he had just decapitated moments before. And I'd like something that's a little out that's not too common. I already have stuff like Inuyasha and Cowboy Bebop.

So, what do you people recommend?

[CelesJessa]

Mua ha ha, forget the anime and go for the manga!

*cough cough* Erm. Sorry about that. I'm kinda on a manga craze at the moment.

Hmm... good anime DVDs.... I'm not an expert on it, but I have heard many good things about Escaflowne. I haven't read any of the Escaflowne manga or seen any of the anime, but my friend has and she says it's really good!

Or if you want something more weird, I think Serial Experiment Lain sounds interesting. I've heard good things about that series too.

And then, there's always my current favorite: .Hack. I've only read the manga, but if the anime is anything like the manga, I would assume it's a great series.


And there's the rundown on some good animes. But, as I said, I wouldn't know that much about animes except for their respective mangas and things I've heard. ^^;;

[Raiden]

Mua ha ha, forget the anime and go for the manga!

Hey, stop that!

I saw that they had Escaflowne there. I might look into that. I saw an episode of Lain once. It confused me, and I hated it.

I finished watching .Hack on CN on Saturday nights quite a while ago. It was a good anime, but I'm not going to buy it. They did have things like Hellsing.

Mua ha ha, forget the anime and go for the manga!

I told you to stop that! Although, they did have those Ragnarok box sets...

[IHateMakingNames]

.hack was horible... It took 25 episodes(I think that's the whole series) of random crap to do what 4 episodes could have done... They stretched out that anime more then DBZ does...

Buy future episodes of Inu and Yu Yu, so you don't have to wait for CN to get more episodes(Which will never happen...)

[CelesJessa]

.hack was horible... It took 25 episodes(I think that's the whole series) of random crap to do what 4 episodes could have done... They stretched out that anime more then DBZ does...

No way. They screwed up the anime? Aw... the manga was really good though.... >_<;;;


But go for the ragnarok boxed set! Would that be manga or anime? ^_^ The manga series is pretty good.

[Raiden]

Manga. But I'd like to get an anime DVD. But I just need help deciding.

They have an entire wall covered in Anime DVDs. And it's a big wall. So anything that's out there, I'd like to know.

[IHateMakingNames]

I would get anime over manga... Why look at still pictures and read, when you can watch and not have to think at all (Unless you have subs, then it's some thinking)

[CelesJessa]

I would get anime over manga... Why look at still pictures and read, when you can watch and not have to think at all (Unless you have subs, then it's some thinking)

because the mangas are superior! *laughs maniacly*

And you can read mangas anywhere you have enough light, you need a DVD player and a TV to watch anime. ^^; and there's SO many awesome manga series that they haven't made into animes. And usually. like most book-to-movie/tv series (such as lord of the rings, or ANY book that has been turned into a movie or a show) they usually do something that screws it up.

*shrugs* BUT I'm not gonna turn this into a manga vs anime discussion.

I still say go for the manga, but that's just me. Either that or Escaflowne or the later episodes of Inuyasha like IHMN said.

[Raiden]

Well, I went and looked around. The Escaflowne stuff didn't have all of them, and the boxed sets they had were WAY too expensive. So, I ended up buying BASTARD!!. Which, according to my profile and avatar, I became attached to. Buy it! Swords, magic, and girls almost naked. Hoo-ya!

[BMHadoken]

I used to believe that manga was better than anime, but I saw how they butchered FCLC in manga form and just let it all go...

Theres a good anime, FLCL...

[Mr. Wind-Up Bird]

Photon rocks my socks. I just watched the DVD. It was really funny.

[GatoFiero]

Escaflowne, Hyper Police and Rune Soldier.

Escaflowne is just all around good. I can't understand why i haven't gotten around to watching it again and finishing the series.

Hyper Police is a sci-fi comedy. Take one cat girl with the ability to shoot powerful lightening bolts. Add one Kitsune who want's to steal the said cat girl's power so she can grow her last 2 1/2 tails. Make 'em both partners in the bounty hunting business and throw them into a crime infested city of human and demi-humans. It's one of my personal favorites.

For a quick synopsis of Rune Soldier. I give you this link: http://carnage.fanfic.org/louie.html I tell you this, this series kicks ass, but it's new so don't expect to find it as cheap as Escaflowne or Hyper Police.

[dragonglove]

Well most anime is priced the same, from the best to the worst, if that's what you're asking. As for what to buy, I'd look through the STICKY of the best anime and the topic called "your three favorites". Find anything that's not on TV and go from there. I personnally own three series myself: Excel Saga, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Steel Angel Kurumi. All worth their money.

[GatoFiero]

Oh yea, just incase. I assumed that buying excel saga was a given. I mean, the series kicks ass, and it kicks the most ass with the ad vid notes.

[In Hindsight]

Berserk is worth picking up, especially since you can get the entire six-disc series for under $100.

[Futae No Kiwami]

Best Buyable Anime depends on preference really. But heres my picks.

If you like Martial Arts...I'd suggest snagging Yu Yu Hakusho, and Rouroni Kenshin. Yu Yu, becuase its the only anime, to beat out DBZ, IN JAPAN, IN ITS PRIME in popularity, The fight scenes are generally nicely done, and Yusuke is a decent Hero/Anti-hero mix. Hes a Younger, Non-Smoking(unless you read the manga), shorter version of spike speigel in terms of attitude.

Rouroni Kenshin, is just plain nice...but, of course judging from my name, you'd know I'd suggest that.

For Randomness: FLCL...becuase that anime rocks so hard, I can't even come up with a word for it.

and finally...Cowboy Bebop. Becuase that also rocks mighty FN Hard.

[Dante]

Bastard! Everything can be solved with magic! The anime isn't bad, but the manga is much, much better.

I would also recommend Gensomaden Saiyuki and Naruto. Both of these own.

[Nafoi]

..

[GatoFiero]

Go Genkigangar III!! w00t, Nadesico is also one of my favorites. Have you seen the Nadesico movie?

[muadeeb]

If you like mecha, then RahXephon is pretty good. Lupin the 3rd is good for wackiness (cars driving on cliff walls??).

If you can find it, I'll offer Witch Hunter Robin -- I say offer because I've only seen a couple of episodes, but it struck be as similar to X in terms of style. (X is also greatness, but very dark)

[Raiden]

I saw a lot of that stuff there. I was going to get the Berserk box set, but since I didn't happen to have $67.30 on me, I declined. I got BASTARD!! Dark Schneider owns you!

[Dante]

No. Devil Dark Schneider 0wnz jo0r @$$!!!

[In Hindsight]

I saw a lot of that stuff there. I was going to get the Berserk box set, but since I didn't happen to have $67.30 on me, I declined. I got BASTARD!! Dark Schneider owns you!

Bastard!! is definitely good policy. I saw the series on VHS a while ago and picked up the DVD collection on a whim a few months back, but I haven't re-watched it yet. Where the hell did you find the Berserk box for that cheap? Hell, I only paid about $90 after tax and that was still a damn good deal. I would've ended up spending around $160 buying 'em individually.

I'm about halfway through now, just finished disc three... I'd seriously reccomend you set the next $67.30 you come across aside, and buy this series. It's just that damned good!

Also, (from what I've seen of each thus far) I'd also second the opinion for RahXephon, Witch Hunter Robin and X TV.

[e-man2001]

while most animes are hideously ovberpriced I recently saw crest of stars at best buy for 50$ and have heard that that is a good buy.

Lain is a good series but it rapes your brain like eva does.
for good all around hijinks, El-hazard is good so is Tenchi.

But for a nice little disc to pick up... Try Read Or Die. Its a 4-6 episode OVA that is really nice, the TV series was picked up in japan.

OHYEAH, if youare really on a budget, try Voices of a Distant Star ... Its only about 30min long but it is incredibly beautiful stuff.

hope this helps.

Also, i typically go here to order stuff: http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/

[Exploding Ostrich]

You might want to grab the Generator Gawl collection if you can find it. It's a damn fine action series, even if the last episode does twist the plot hard enough to leave a hole the size of several small states. (I really freakin' hate time-travel paradoxes.) I got it for $30, which ain't bad at all for a twelve-episode series.

[Fabricated]

Note: all reviews contained herein are opinion. Jumping up my ass over what I recommend and what I don't recommend will waste bandwidth, probably annoy the moderators, and make me want to stab you in the eye.

What I suggest you buy if you don't want to go broke:
Trigun - One of the few anime series I can watch repeatedly without losing interest in it. Pretty good all around, easy to get into, easy to watch, nicely animated for the most part.

Berserk - One of the best splattery blood-n-guts animes, since it actually has a nice plot. The Manga is -far- more indepth, but there's something about seeing Guts do his thing, animated, and in color. Awful dub (even for someone like me who FUCKING HATES DUB/SUB DEBATE ASSHOLES and usually enjoys both), but the Japanese voices actually manage to sound tough and fitting with these very not-Japanese looking characters, a rarity in Japanese voice acting.

Gundam 008th MS Team - About the only good Gundam series I've ever seen. If you prefer Gundam's take on mecha and warfare this is about the best series to get, since it's about as "realistic" as the enormous franchise gets. Gundams aren't invincible destruction machines, they're advanced machinery, and prone to errors, subject to the laws of physics, and the pilots aren't shirtless bishonen. Lame ending, but the rest of it is great.

The Big O - Semi-confusing, but the (most likely intentional) wonky dialogue, fun characters, and steampunk-ish robot designs are just entertaining to watch beat the hell out of eachother. The second season will probably hit DVD sometime reasonably soon, and while it's kinda weak, it's still a decent watch.
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What I suggest you buy if you're rich as shit:
Yu Yu Hakusho - A somewhat typical action anime aimed at middle-schoolers in Japan, but a HELL of a lot less meandering and actually more brutal than DBZ. Better characters too. Great fun to just sit down and watch, but it's got a hojillion episodes. You'll be buying DVDs until the sun goes nova.

Record of Lodoss War - Straight out of a half-cocked DND campaign, but so well done and appealing to RPG/LotR fans that the generic character designs actually make it funner to watch. Sometimes you just want to see a dwarf, an elf, and some human fighters slay monsters and fight the big evil baddie.

Inuyasha - You say you have it, but hey, I like it too. It's still going on in Japan, and already has a shitton of episodes. It'll take a crate of DVDs by the time it's finished.
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What I suggest you do not buy:
Evangelion - Do yourself a favor and don't waste your money. If you absolutely have to see this mystifyingly popular pile, download it off of Kazaa/WinMX.

Blue Gender - Like Starship Troopers, only it sucks, even with the copious nudity and groping.

.Hack/Anything - A bunch of people do everything but move the plot forward. Boring, stale conversation punctuates the rather annoying Tsukasa getting deservingly smacked around.

Kenshin TV series - Note I'm talking about the TV series here. I haven't seen much of the OVA, which has beautiful animation and gruesome battle scenes.

Kenshin starts out by tricking you into thinking that it's "Trigun with swords", but don't let it fool you. Kenshin drags out battles DBZ style, only instead of the filler being punctuated with shots of the hero's worthless allies grunting in terror, they provide absolutely mind-numbing play-by-play description of all the various obscure and simple techniques the combatants are using and the history behind them.

The Kyoto arc will make you want to boil your head. Worst villain in history. Doesn't help the series is several DVDs long either.

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

Fabricated, lay off the opinions. You are not the 'god of all who knows what good shows are.' He's just asking what the good deals are.

That said...What I suggest for good deals, because I assume you mean by money means are these.

GTO - $70 for 24 Episodes + T-Shirt. Pretty good deal for half the show.

Slayers (Any Season) Box Set - 80-120 dollars. I went to Fry's and got them for 80 each. 80 Bucks for 26 episodes is pretty dang good from what I see around. Don't pay he rediculous prices of 100-120. Go online or another store and find it for 80-90.

Blue Seed - I picked this up at Suncoast of all places, the most expensive Anime store around me, for $60. Now THAT'S a good deal for 26 episodes. Good show too...in my opinion.

3x3 Eyes - Its seems expensive, but if you look around, I've seen people selling it for 40 sometimes. Now, 40 dollars for a 7 episode OAV? Well, this OAV is 4 1/2 hours long (roughly 10 regular TV episodes long). Also made by the guy who did Blue Seed. Hmmm...-_-

Saber Marionette J - Each DVD is 40-45 dollars. But each DVD comes with 9 episodes. So if you compare to a regular DVD which has 3-4 episodes and costs 25-30...

...45x3 = $135 :: 25x7 = $175. By Golly, the 45 dollar DVDs are cheaper in the long run! Wish more DVDs were released like this show...
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Bad Deals at the moment:

Anything Non-Box Set. Stuff like Kenshin and CardCaptor Sakura.

Neon Genesis Evangelion. 120-140 bucks? Come on ADV, stop screwing up over just because you can get away with it. I had to go to GameStop and buy all 8 DVDs used for 80 bucks to get around the price.

Sailor Moon Box Sets. Again, ADV, you're pissing me off. I'm not going to spend 150 bucks for the R season of Sailor Moon, especially after you spent 2 years getting it ready to ship.

Indavidual movies. Sometimes you gotta make sacrifices, like I did last week buying the Second CCS movie. But single DVDs go for 25-30 dollars on Avg. I only buy Movies like this.

[Fabricated]

Holy shit, is it my birthday?

[The_Phat_G]

The Irresponsible Captain Tylor! Blarg, what a good anime. Wackiness and space adventures all rolled up into one. Definately a must have, it's a crime that it's gone unnoticed this long.

I thought .hack was ok, right up until the last episode, when (SPOILER WARNING!!!)














Sukasa turned out to be a girl in real life. That just freaked me out.

[muadeeb]

Why should that freak you out?? Do you honestly think everybody on-line is who they are in real life??

[The_Phat_G]

Why should that freak you out?? Do you honestly think everybody on-line is who they are in real life??

Hardly! That's common knowledge, homes. It just caught me by surprise. It was, like, 2 a.m. when I saw it. I can't really remember, but I might've been high too, but it's unlikely. Besides, I was more expecting Subaru or the other girl (the on with the sword who's name I've forgotten) to be a man. But the main character, now that threw me for a loop. As Emeril would say, "BAM!" It was kinda like that.

Also, I just remembered two cool series.

Ayashi no Ceres: I only saw the first episode of this at a small local con, but the animation was absolutely beautiful and it was funny as hell. I wanted more, but they were all bitchy and decided to stick with the scheduale.

Samurai Deeper Kyo: The manga is SWEET and the anime is pretty cool too. Check it out.

[synkr0nized]

Avoid mall stores, unless they have exactly what you want. Chances are good that the price at any mall store can be beaten soundly by an online merchant (such as Amazon.com or AnimeNation.com) or Best Buy.

As far as which series, I'll save my opinions for myself.