Azisien needs to find some enjoyable ANIMU but can't.

[Azisien]

Okay so I moved in with a big Japanophile anime nerd at the start of summer and he insists I watch more anime. I have nothing against doing so, but it seems like my tastes are...pickier than your usual purveyor of the Animus and Magnas.

I figure it's probably best if I just list every anime I can ever think of watching, and let you know what I thought of them briefly.

My anime nerd friends also had a pow-wow recently to find me some, I'll list those as well.

Anime I've completed

Dragonball Z: Innate enjoyment as a kid as led to the foundation of my hatred of anime that drags on for season after season, episode after episode, filler after filler. I also gave up near the start of the Buu saga but DBZ is fucking bullshit, so I consider it completed.

Inuyasha: Another show that just seemed to drag on with no enjoyable resolution and characters that are pretty annoying. It was fun to make fun of while watching though. Also contributed to growing hatred of drag-on animes.

Cowboy Bebop: I used to think it was the bee's knees of anime, and I've decided it probably still is one of the best dubbed ones. I re-watched it recently and it certainly shows its age now, but I quite liked it.

Trigun: Probably my most hated anime to date. It was a show I could have not hated so much if I had just been able to stop watching it part way through, but my anime nerd friend (same one as above) INSISTED I "see it through." Okay. I watched all 26 episodes. It fucking blew*.
*Fine like 4 episodes were pretty decent.

Samurai Champloo: Excellent anime, I quite enjoyed it. A little weak on the characterization, I felt they faffed about too much near the end of the series when they should have been adding depth. The baseball episode makes up for those shortcomings.

Akira: Pretty decent. I didn't think it was extraordinary but there were some genuinely creepy parts.

Princess Mononoke: Pretty good movie too.

Gundam Wing (the original one?): Had promise but I thought it got kind of silly with the tech level of the robots changing on a per-episode basis, such that the GRAND SUPER GUNDAM of episode 7 was completely obsolete in episode 11. Also mostly stupid characters.

Escaflowne: Liked it when I was a kid, but I had bad tastes (see earlier anime history).

Afro Samurai: Loved the original. Resurrection was pretty terrible save for a few parts.

Anime I've watched some of

Sailor Moon: This show probably helped my balls drop, but it made them crooked...

Pokemon: Terribl....y awesome! But only when I was 10.

Ghost in the Shell: Gave up about 20 episodes in. For all its decent art and action, I just found it boring. Couldn't care less about any of the characters, story, or lack thereof.

Full Metal Alchemist: Watched the first episode only and it didn't grab me. I might re-visit some day since one episode isn't always enough to judge.

Gurran Legann: This show was like 60% Trigun by episode 2 and I cut my losses quick.

Great Teacher Onizuka: Pretty damn good show so far, I'm really enjoying it.

Mushishi: I want to like it, but it's kind of boring. Some cool concepts at least.

Lucky Star: Oh lordy, the cutesy anime. I honestly couldn't stand this for long. Addictive opening theme.

Excel Saga: Too much of not the right kind of random for me.

Anime my friends just recently recommended

GTO - already started
Mushishi - already started
Berserk
Full Metal Panic
Nodame Cantabile
FLCL

...and a few others but they're in Japanese and I don't have the sheet with me at the moment.

Anime I will look into due to NPF

Baccano!
House of Five Leagues
Paranoia Agent
Hellsing Ultimate
Soul Eater
Star Driver
Samurai 7 (note: make fun of tech levels)
Black Lagoon
Katanagatari (some day, perhaps, maybe)
Full Metal Alchemist (fiiiiiine)
Millenium Actress (movie)
Tokyo Godfathers (movie)
Gungrave
Death Note
Hajime no Ippo
Ergo Proxy
Noein
Desert Punk
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi

This is an open challenge to the anime experts of NPF, what do I have the best chance of liking?! Clearly if you look at my anime resume, I like a good amount of action. I don't mind things being silly. I'd rather look at pictures or videos of actual puppies than watch little anime girls be all cute n' stuff.

Sign: No weed please.

[Menarker]

You might want to check everything said in THIS thread, which Krogoth made asking the exact same request.

http://www.nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?t=38611

[Azisien]

I actually did see that thread but Krogo has seen sooooooo many more anime than me, and I sure as hell ain't going to shotgun pick even his list.

Edit: Hmmm, Baccano, I heard about that one...adding!

[krogothwolf]

Originally Posted by Azisien

I actually did see that thread but Krogo has seen sooooooo many more anime than me, and I sure as hell ain't going to shotgun pick even his list.

This makes me feel like an anime whore

[mauve]

My sister got me hooked on House of Five Leaves. Here's the manga, but apparently the anime is a lot farther along than the translated version of the manga. I think the anime goes to the end of the series. (Plus I believe it's animated by the Cowboy Bebop/Samurai Champloo people.) Personally I haven't watched it yet; I'm still reading the printed version. Apparently it's faithful to the comics though. Episode 1. I really like the art style.

Also, I already bugged krogo about it, but check out Paranoia Agent if you're up for something spooky and mind-breaking. Warning, some episodes contain adult themes. Not a show to watch while younger siblings are in the room.

[Azisien]

Originally Posted by Mauve Mage

Also, I already bugged krogo about it, but check out Paranoia Agent if you're up for something spooky and mind-breaking. Warning, some episodes contain adult themes. Not a show for younger siblings to watch with you.

Mind-breaking, now that's a good sell! Fear not, however, I have already consumed my younger siblings.

Originally Posted by NonCon

I'll tentatively recommend both Hellsing Ultimate and Afro Samurai, both of which have awesome English dubs.

Crap, I totally forgot I've seen all of Afro Samurai. Added that to stuff I've completed. Will definitely look into Hellsing Ultimate then.

Originally Posted by NonCon

One thing I'd like to know is what your tastes are in more of a general sense. What kind of humor do you like? Is a lot of action a prerequisite for you watching a show? What kind of pacing do you like? Stuff like that. Let me know and I might be able to give better recommendations more tailored to you.

I avoided a blurb on this because I'm not sure I can articulate my tastes well enough, if I even HAVE them yet. I'll try. For humor, I think pretty much anything can grab hold of me if it's executed well enough. I find GTO hilarious most of the time. This is my kind of humor also. There was an anime I did not list because I CANNOT for the life of me remember the name. It was about a kid who got a guardian angel that basically spent the entire 10 or so episodes murdering him and resurrecting him. Though a tough sell, it was also hilarious.

I think action is more or less a prerequisite, but I mean I watch some Hollywood movies without action, it's just rare. So finding non-action anime will probably be tough, too. Like Mushishi has very little action so far, but it's well animated and written. I am finding it difficult to hang on to.

I'm a fan of shows that take off with a BANG. Champloo, which I just finished recently, had me hooked because right from the first episode there's some bad-ass sword fighting. I appear to like swords, but not if robots are holding them. Samurai are cool. Trigun took 20 episodes to be even remotely decent, so fuck that kind of pacing.

I like heroes that struggle. In Bebop and Champloo, the protagonists were highly skilled but enemies were often a little under, or equal, or better in skill. Contrast to Trigun, where it's basically a Vash circle jerk of his greatness for almost the entire series. Hated that.

So in summary, shows should pick up relatively quickly, have some action and humor, and they have to END too. I hope that helps a little.

As one addition, although I haven't actually watched too much edgy stuff before, I don't mind dark, or adult, or whatever. Bring it on.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Azisien

There was an anime I did not list because I CANNOT for the life of me remember the name. It was about a kid who got a guardian angel that basically spent the entire 10 or so episodes murdering him and resurrecting him. Though a tough sell, it was also hilarious.

I believe it's Bokusatu Tenshi Dokuro-chan. I'm not sure on the translation of the first two words, but I believe Tenshi means angel.

I'm a fan of shows that take off with a BANG. Champloo, which I just finished recently, had me hooked because right from the first episode there's some bad-ass sword fighting. I appear to like swords, but not if robots are holding them. Samurai are cool. Trigun took 20 episodes to be even remotely decent, so fuck that kind of pacing.

I like heroes that struggle. In Bebop and Champloo, the protagonists were highly skilled but enemies were often a little under, or equal, or better in skill. Contrast to Trigun, where it's basically a Vash circle jerk of his greatness for almost the entire series. Hated that.

So in summary, shows should pick up relatively quickly, have some action and humor, and they have to END too. I hope that helps a little.

As one addition, although I haven't actually watched too much edgy stuff before, I don't mind dark, or adult, or whatever. Bring it on.

Black Lagoon. It's basically if Cowboy Bebop was about pirates in the south China seas. (I think that's where they are) Oh, and if it was INCREDIBLY dark. Another one of those shows that I've found is accessible to non-anime fans.

Baccano! might be to your liking. Lot of action, a lot of humor, and it's all set during the prohibition era of the US. It's a little confusing early on because it doesn't do things in chronological order, but as the show continues you start to get a feel for how everything comes together. If you like Baccano!, you might want to check out Durarara! which is by the same author.

Phil recommended Katanagatari, which is a pretty aces show in most every regard, but my only concern is that how talky it is will put you off it. Watch the first episode. If you like it, cool. If you don't, don't bother with the rest of the series.

Soul Eater is great, but it's pretty anime in its humor. It also suffers from some really weak episodes for the first three. Like, I love the show, but those episodes suck. Possibly try watching the first episode aware that the show is normally much better than this, and then skip to the fourth episode. Episode two is literally so bad I could only stomach five minutes of it. It's fifty-one episodes long, but it actually has an ending, and the ending kicks ass.

Elfen Lied is something I foresee people recommending, and I'm a little torn on it. On the one hand, it's something that really isn't all that great in retrospect, because it dials up the "awful shit happening" all the way to eleven, and then to twenty. You really have to be in the right mindset to enjoy it otherwise you won't be able to take it seriously just because of how over-the-top the depressing stuff is. The ending also sucks. On the other hand, it is something that non-anime fans seem to enjoy on some level, from time to time, so I might as well throw it out there.

Two directors I recommend checking out are Satoshi Kon and Miyazaki. For Satoshi Kon, I recommend Millenium Actress (a movie I am halfway through right now) and Tokyo Godfathers. Neither are action based, but they're movies, and therefore less of a commitment. Story, characters, and presentation in both is just aces, though. However, if you don't like one of those two films, I'm can't recommend checking his others out. I love how he directs, but I can see how it would put some people off. Paranoia Agent is by the same guy, but is a bit more out there than those two movies I've mentioned. Miyazaki I recommend because he's goddamn Miyazaki. Dude kicks ass. Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are both easy recommends, though I haven't watched the latter in some time so my main source of confidence in it is that Miyazaki directed it.

I'll try and think of some others to throw out there.

[Tev]

Originally Posted by NonCon

Miyazaki I recommend because he's goddamn Miyazaki. Dude kicks ass. Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are both easy recommends, though I haven't watched the latter in some time so my main source of confidence in it is that Miyazaki directed it.

Basic rule of thumb for people getting into anime. If Miyazaki made it, watch it.

He's like the Japanese Walt Disney but better in many (most)....(all?) respects.

EDIT: OH, and if you can suspend your disbelief in the science of sound in a vacuum then I suggest you look up Black Heaven.

Plot Summary: Oji Tanaka has a wife, a child and a mundane job as a salary man in Tokyo's modern society. But life wasn't dull for him to begin with; 15 years ago, he was known as "Gabriel", leader of a short-lived heavy metal band called Black Heaven. Oji's life gets a sudden change in direction when he is invited by a mysterious blonde woman named Layla to pick up his Gibson Flying V and once again display his "legendary" guitar skills, not knowing that his music generates power for a massive weapon in an intergalactic war.

It's about how you win a space war by rocking out harder than the other guy.

[Kim]

FLCL I'd be a bit skeptical of watching until you've seen more anime. It's an amazing show, and every time you rewatch it you catch things you didn't previous, but the wacky off-the-wall humor is so very anime it might put you off it. On the plus side, it's only six episodes long.

Berserk is interesting. I haven't watched the anime, but I've read all the manga thus far. The anime is basically a faster version of the first main story arc. Great action, great story, though I hear they had a really shitty animation budget, so you'll occasionally get really well-drawn still frames in place of actually showing fluid combat. Also keep in mind that it's kind of a dark show, though that might be hard to catch early on. Bad shit happens in it, though the anime seems to gloss over some of the worse things.

I watched the first episode of Fullmetal Panic, and while I wouldn't say it was bad, there just wasn't a whole lot there that sold me on it.

I'll tentatively recommend both Hellsing Ultimate and Afro Samurai, both of which have awesome English dubs. I've found that both seem fairly accessible to non-anime fans, though there's definitely an emphasis on action and style over any real substance in both. Check out the first episode of both, and make sure when you check out Hellsing that you check out the Ultimate version because the original TV series isn't worth shit compared to it.

One thing I'd like to know is what your tastes are in more of a general sense. What kind of humor do you like? Is a lot of action a prerequisite for you watching a show? What kind of pacing do you like? Stuff like that. Let me know and I might be able to give better recommendations more tailored to you.

[Regulus Tera]

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, a story about two angels who spend their time fighting demonic creatures, going to high school, eating pastry, and fucking men.

It hasn't even aired and it's already the best show of the year.