Recommend Snake an Anime

[Solid Snake]

Now that I have an extensive amount of free time on my hands for at least the next couple months, I figure it's as good a time as any to see if there's a great Anime out there I can invest in that isn't Mawaru Penguindrum or Steins;Gate.

Here are the guidelines:

1: All other things being equal, I prefer Subs over Dubs.
2: I'm looking for something comedic and upbeat. I'm not really in the mood for anything too tragic or serious.
3: ...That being said, I really don't want (and I forget the Japanese word for this) one of those 'Boys' Animes' that follow all those standard tropes about young men battling and maturing and that go on forever and ever. In fact...
4: I'd prefer an Anime that's actually finished, rather than investing in something that's still ongoing.
5: I'd prefer to avoid giant robots if at all possible.
6: I'd also prefer to avoid the classic tsundere 'will she or won't she?' bullshit romantic tension. Like, there's gotta be an Anime out there with an actual kind-of-sort-of-realistic portrayal of what relationships actually look like.
7: While I understand there's no such thing as a 'perfectly' socially progressive Anime, I'd really prefer if at all possible to avoid any Anime with really glaring social justice issues; like, let's avoid for the sake of my heart pressure any Anime with an egregious stereotype of a gay guy or a racial minority.

I look forward to hearing your sales pitches.

[pochercoaster]

I was getting all ready to recommend you anime but then...


2: I'm looking for something comedic and upbeat. I'm not really in the mood for anything too tragic or serious.

Oh, damn. :/ Then I got nothing. Gotta think really hard about that.

That said, I still stand by the recommendation I gave in the open thread for Revolutionary Girl Utena. It's got some comedic episodes, and while it's serious and tragic it's often metaphorically so. It's about a girl who wants to be a prince and needs the power to revolutionize the world, I'll leave it at that. But it will punch you in the feels.

Hopefully I'll think of something that better suits the tone you're looking for.

Edit: I don't know if it's what you're looking for and/or if you've already seen it (cause everybody has), but One Punch Man is hilarious and awesome.

Samurai Champloo might also work.

Mushishi?

The Basketball that Kuroko Plays? Basketball isn't tragic, so.

Also, I can't fully vouch for it because I've only seen 4 episodes (I intend to watch more eventually), but I found Initial D enjoyable. It's an old anime about street racing. It uses really primitive 3D animation for the actual racing parts which I found jarring at first but didn't mind after I got used to it.

Edit 2: I totally forgot about the gay rapist felon in One Punch Man.

[phil_]

Ore Monogatari fills all your qualifications except 4, but the anime ends at a decent stopping point; it's not a cliff-hanger. If you're on board for some stupid cute cis-het romance, Ore Monogatari is golden. Spoilers: I've taken guideline 6 into account and it passes as well as any fiction does.

Alternatively, you could watch the unrepentantly stupid anime my avatar comes from, Zettai Bouei Leviathan. A trio of girls who are also dragons follow a fairy to save the world, except they don't because they're all looney tunes. The transformation sequences featuring teenagers in their "scales" and some gags in the same vein probably fail guideline 7, though.

I can probably come up with a lot more, but the sun has been down for a while. I'll have to get back to you.

Oh, Yama no Susume. It's about high-school girls climbing mountains. It fails in social-justice purity in that the one of the ending songs has a lingering pajama shot of the cast. And there's an episode where accidental pulling-down-of-skirts plays a role (you don't see anyones' underwear, though). But the show as a whole is feel-good stuff, but realistic feel-good stuff. If you're ok with skipping that end song (not all the endings, though, just the bad one), I'd recommend this the most.

Or watch Aria. The order is Animation -> Natural -> Arietta -> Origination -> Avvenire. Mars gondolas, basic moral principles, lion-soothing soundtrack.

Edit: I really enjoyed One Punch Man, but the only definitely gay character is a rapist felon (but also a hero), and perhaps you've seen Aerozord's posts on Tatsumaki/Tornado in the anime thread. So some of it will be less than funny, but the whole package is as good as anything I've suggested.

[Bard The 5th LW]

There is one character that'd probably turn you off from it, but if you somehow haven't seen it, I'd strongly recommend One Punch Man. Only 12 episodes (with a much longer manga, granted), but it restored my faith in anime.

Otherwise, Samurai Champloo was enjoyable. Big O is one of my personal favorites, but its not at all recent and was rather Western in style when compared to other animes.

Other oldschool anime I've been watching recently is Slayers and the dubbing is a bit suspect (especially for the villains) but the show is overall reasonably fun and I can imagine myself having been totally into it if I were watching it when I was a lot younger.

[Overcast]

You can prolly watch some anime films, if you ain't dipped into little witch academia yet then fuckin come on man do it.

If you want a more nuanced answer you might be into the Tatami Galaxy, not too long reasonably humorous, can be just a smidge difficult tto keep up with but with the time to try.

HunterxHunter will never be finished cause the creator is going to die during the current haitus but there is a real solid series available that while not tying up all loose ends will likely leave you as it did me at least feeling content. But this one is long, not as horrificallyas bleach and its contemporaries though.

Arakawa Under the Bridge (or as I felt like watching it Intro to Studio Shaft) might also do something for you, but it could also just annoy you. Like Shaft itself it can be a bit polarizing.

[phil_]

Inferno Cop opens rather weakly with a pregnant woman being menaced by thugs (requirement seven, why must every show fail you!). It quickly becomes so unhinged that comparisons between what's happening on screen and our reality become difficult. A useful description I've seen repeated about the show is "It's the writers playing with their toys for ten minutes, then animating whatever made them laugh." If you want some quick, low-brow humor, it's good. Here's a pretty representative shot from the first episode: http://imgur.com/9SXDAky

Daily Lives of High School Boys is slower low-brow humor, but it reminded me of my high school life more than anything else in any form of literature I've ever experienced (as long as we reign in the definition of "literature" to not include one's own lived experience). It really captures that sense of high school boys as being just large boys, playing stupid games and having pointless conversations until they're overheard and have to drop it to be cool. But we run into req. 7 again, in that the show strongly rejects the typical anime depiction of high school girls as being flawless angels in favor of depicting all girls as savages and bullies. But the show tries to present the girl characters as sympathetic for their own reasons, so it's less red-pill PUA MGTOW etc. than I'm making it sound. It's funny. You probably won't get mad unless you over-think it like I have here.

Reinforcing Overcast's recommendations of Little Witch Academia and its sequel. They're rather pretty cartoons with actual animation™ that tell simple stories about girls in a witch academy. Also going to second Arakawa Under the Bridge if you can deal with idealized homelessness and mental illness.

Slayers is kinda long. I fizzled out after Try (which is the third TV series, with like two OVA series and four-ish movies before that), and after that there are still two TV series and a movie. On the other hand, I suggested Aria which is also kinda long and doesn't have sword fights or dragons (so far, I haven't watched Origination yet). Aria also doesn't have all the boob jokes. Still, Slayers does give what was at-the-time a unique perspective on fantasy adventure stories, and is still imitated for a reason (the reason is fun. And money). Heck, Leviathan that I recommended earlier owes at least some second- or third-hand debt to Slayers as a slapstick fantasy.

I'm really complaining and nit-picking a lot. I actually have enjoyed everything recommended here except the few I haven't watched, and I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy those. Except Puri-Puri-Prisoner, that really is a messed up character and doesn't add anything good to OPM. And yet I still like that show, too.

I've been at this for over an hour, I'm done.

[Tev]

Here are some suggestions:

-Food Wars! (Shokugeki no Soma): Imagine if Food Network cooking competitions like Chopped and Cutthroat Kitchen got folded into a high school anime and half-baked. There is fan-service, but it is surprisingly progressive in its approach (to said fan-service) with full gender equality. Season one is 24 episodes long and season two will be kicking off soon.

-Is it Wrong to try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Sounds corny, is actually kinda cute. Has some genre inconsistencies that you'll probably pick up on really fast, but over all it's an enjoyable romp watching a young man gather some friends and fight some monsters for the glory of his goddess.

-Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!: May or may not be your cup of tea. Most certainly is a comedy or sorts. Basically about the trials and tribulations of a group of guys who are ambushed by a talking koala and given magical girl powers to defend the world for truth and love. They are still guys, but they get the outfits and the powers and decide to roll with it.

---------- Post added at 04:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:02 PM ----------

Big O is one of my personal favorites, but its not at all recent and was rather Western in style when compared to other animes.Big O was "What would Batman the Animated Series look like if Bruce Wayne had a mech and Robin was a robot maid?" Turns out it was lots of fun.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Big O was "What would Batman the Animated Series look like if Bruce Wayne had a mech and Robin was a robot maid?" Turns out it was lots of fun.

I recently made my friends watch it and I forgot to mention it had giant robots, so when the robots came out in the first episode, they fucking lost it. It was amazing.

[pochercoaster]

Just my 2 cents: when I tried to watch Food Wars I could barely nake it through because in the first 5 minutes if the first episode it has tentacles groping on a female character. Like wtf I came to watch food anime not hentai Also the main characters seemed boring. Idk.

OMG WAIT HOW COULD I FORGET: FUCKING SILVER SPOON. SILVER SPOON IS TEH BEST. It's an anime about high schoolers learning to farm. (It makes fun of a fat female character though and its pretty shitty about that, but otherwise i cant recall it being shitty.)

Honestly silver spoon is kinda cool in that the main character strugglrs with his privilege as a kid from an affluent family thats mad he went to farming school instead of university when hes aming some poor farm kids, i think the charactets are pretty realistic.

I am on my phone so deal with my typos, k. I cant use touchscreens.

[Overcast]

I have the same problem with touch screens, and had the same problem with Food Wars but the series kinda warms up to you over time. I wouldn't suggest it to Snake though because of his sensitivities. Even if it shifts from beautiful food making and equal opportunity foodgasming you have to kinda have a willingness to put up with that aspect or find it amusing. It is good if you keep it up though. Doesn't really start to flow until like episode 5 though.

[Tev]

I have the same problem with touch screens, and had the same problem with Food Wars but the series kinda warms up to you over time. I wouldn't suggest it to Snake though because of his sensitivities. Even if it shifts from beautiful food making and equal opportunity foodgasming you have to kinda have a willingness to put up with that aspect or find it amusing. It is good if you keep it up though. Doesn't really start to flow until like episode 5 though.Yeah, I do have to coach people through the first few minutes. But my wife and I found the equal opportunity fan service refreshing, once we accepted that there was going to be fan service. That and it's framed as an interesting take on the experiences of food, which was different.

But yeah, we were in the "found it amusing" camp. I can get were some people might rather just not.

[Bum Bill Bee]

My recommendation: Jormungand.

[walkertexasdruid]

Martian Successor Nadesico: The most powerful spaceship in the galaxy run by morons. ;)

Trigun: Incredibly goofy and incredibly serious at the same time. Plus Vash the Stampede is just awesome!

Hellsing: Alucard is the most frightening hero you will ever meet.

[Marc v4.0]

Make sure it's Ultimate Hellsing or you're just wasting your time with inferior product.

[Gregness]

Okay, given your criterion, I think I can comfortably recommend these:

1. Space Dandy

This is a comedy following the exploits of three characters who the narrator at one point describes as "Pinhead, bonehead, and blockhead", but for all the goofy upbeat banter, it has its share of serious moments as well. Also, the soundtrack is amazing, and visually speaking, it's gorgeous. Nearly every episode was done by a different director, so the art style covers quite a lot of range over the show's run. I know you said you preferred subs, but the dub here is seriously good, so I'd say to give it a shot.

Also, Dandy has what is hands down the best solution to doppleganger impersonation I've ever seen.

2. Toradora

This may fall too much on the 'tropes about kids growing up' side you were talking about, but it's a romantic comedy so it's more about growing up in the context of relationships rather than shonen battles. One of the main characters is Tsundere, but her characterization is a major plot point and not just for the normal gags.

3. Panty and Stocking

This is a show about two not very angelic angels trying to earn their way back into heaven by destroying ghosts and demons. If you enjoy or can tolerate low brow humor (In the first episode the two main characters get covered in shit from their city's backed-up sewers, and that's one of the tame jokes), there's very little that will make you laugh harder than this. It's studio Gainax, aping the art style of Powerpuff girls who were, in turn, inspired by anime styles so it's all come full circle. You say all other things being equal, you prefer subs. All other things are not equal here. You want to watch the dub. It is sublime.

Priest: "You lyin' sacks of angel shit! You're supposed to be emmisaries of God not selfish chicken-headed hoes!"
Angel 1: "Motherfucker needs to motherfuckin' chillax before he has a motherfuckin' stroke!"
Angel 2: "Which would rock, 'cause then he could only use half his face to yell at us."

4. Kill la Kill

This show has a lot of fanservice, but it turns out to be a plot point, very little of it is played for titillation and like Food Wars, it is surprisingly equal opportunity. The sis-mance between Mako and Ryuko is one of the best things about this show. This show was very obviously done on a budget, but makes up for it by oozing with goddamn style.

5. Spice and Wolf

This show is one part sexually charged, witty banter, and one part economics course. It's about Lawrence, a travelling merchant in vaguely renaissance Europe, finding Holo the Wise Wolf, a local harvest diety who has been all but forgotten by her village. Holo wants to return to her homeland in the north, so she accompanies Lawrence on her way. This show is phenomenal, but can be kind of a pain to watch legally as, last I checked, the first season was on Hulu, but not the second and the second season was on Netflix, but not the first. If you've got both though (or are fine with more grog-soaked methods), it's hard to do better in the strong female characters department.

6. Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry (Chivalry of a Failed Knight)

Although I enjoyed it while it was on, this would be my most borderline recommendation for you of the list. It seems to play to a lot of the tropes you mentioned disliking, but ends up avoiding or subverting them eventually. Notably, the token gay character in the cast not only doesn't have his sexuality made a big deal of at all, but he's a total boss, and ends up being a supportive emotional rock to a large portion of the cast. What looks like the 'normal' tsundere stuff in the first few episodes gets ducked when the main couple officially starts dating ~episode 3 or 4. It's 'completed' in the sense that it ran for 12 episodes and then ended, but it's based off a light novel series that is still ongoing. So, while the stopping place was good enough to end a season, there was some minor 'end of series proper' closure missing.

[phil_]

Dandy: Much like Johnny Bravo, his awfulness towards women is presented as a flaw, not a boon. Also the English dub really is good.

Panty and Stocking: Doesn't get good until the demon sisters show up. I haven't watched the English dub.

Kill La Kill: I disagree that the stripper outfits aren't there for titillation. It's a pretty good, funny fighting show, regardless.

Spice and Wolf: I watched the first half. It was good, but I had notes to help me with the economics stuff. I still listen to the soundtrack.

I didn't watch the other shows.

[pochercoaster]

Any show that has stripper outfits as a plot point in a plot that doesn't involve strippers has it for titillation and the creators and fans should just be honest about that.

[Gregness]

Kill La Kill: I disagree that the stripper outfits aren't there for titillation. It's a pretty good, funny fighting show, regardless.


Any show that has stripper outfits as a plot point in a plot that doesn't involve strippers has it for titillation and the creators and fans should just be honest about that.

Points. I should have said 'very little of it is just for titillation'.


Spice and Wolf: I watched the first half. It was good, but I had notes to help me with the economics stuff. I still listen to the soundtrack.


The first opening is fucking gorgeous. To the point where I went on the Itunes store, bought it, and it's on my playlist for ballroom waltzes.

vZ0VnLwBwNE

[pochercoaster]

Do movies count? 'Cause I've been working through Miyazaki's repertoire and while everybody knows he's great and you may have seen it already, I strongly recommend Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. It's about the Insectpocalypse that humans brought from polluting the earth, and the heroine is basically (good) Batman. She's a princess-pilot-biologist-leader-pacifist. And it's fantastic.

Also, Kiki's Delivery Service is a about 13 year old girl entrepreneur.* It's also awesome.

Insert rant here about how it's sad that there aren't more cool female heroines like the ones in these movies.

Also I second Trigun.

*I mean that's not what it's actually about, but I just love that Miyazaki made a movie where the plot starts out with "Well I'm 13 and a witch so it's time for me to go to the city and start a business."

[phil_]

Movies?

To-y. Watch To-y. It is MTV back when they played music videos, but in the best way. It's about being rock and not selling out to the man and being eighties fabulous. It's based on a manga that they assume you've read, so it's a little sparse on exposition, but you're a smart guy (and NPFers are smart people) so you'll figure it out.

Social justice issues are rather minor. There is an ambiguous cat girl who's mostly just there to be cute, but she's not bad and fits in with the other weirdo punks the cartoon is about. It's been a few years since the last time I watched it, so that's all that comes to mind. Maybe the song lyrics? I don't remember anything creepy. I think To-y's pretty alright on the SJ angle. I would consider showing it to my mom, if that's any indication of it not being gross.

Really, I think this fits every criteria. There's a little not-comedic drama, but the overall story is upbeat. The manga was published in Weekly Shonen Sunday, so it's technically "Boys' Anime," and as such follows the mantra of "effort, friendship, and victory;" but it's not about yelling attack names and powering up, which is what I believe you were trying to avoid with rule 3.

This is something I can recommend to anyone with no reservations. The rest of you should watch it, too. I'm pretty sure I've recommended it before, not sure why it took your comment, poch, to remember it needed a plug here.