Where to start with anime ??

[minivader]

Does Starblazers count as anime??

you mean space battleship yamato? yeah, I guess anything japanese counts as anime.

 

[MooMooEgg]

most of the recommendation here are great, as a personal note, i would probably avoid long running series like DB, naruto, or bleach as a staring point simply because they waste so many time recap the previous episode and uses a lot of repeat cheats to fill an episode, seriously, they can cut 3-4 episode into 1 and it would not seem rushed. Dont get me wrong, they are fun to watch when the story gets going, but getting there takes real patience.

exactly... for something like dragonball z, only the battle sagas are really worth watching, and even those could be shortened by removing the pointless exposition (e.g., a 20 episode saga could typically be condensed to 7-10 episodes... no need for muscle-flexing powering up to show off the burliness of the fighters while constantly repeating how badly one will beat up the other or how they'll be triumphant in blowing up the planet).

 

[user 2216]

My recommendations:

- Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro
- Cowboy Bebop
- His and Her Circumstances
- Berserk
- Macross Plus
- Gungrave
- Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal (serves as a prequel of sorts to the series "Rurouni Kenshin", but has a more serious tone)
- Tekkonkinkreet

 

[devilof76]

you mean space battleship yamato? yeah, I guess anything japanese counts as anime.

Isn't 'anime' just the term for animation in Japan?

Yamato is a classic. Not as ancient as Gatchaman or Speed Racer, but Leiji Matsumoto was definitely one of the original pioneers of the art.

If Starblazers isn't anime, then Robotech isn't either. And that would just be crazy.

 

[uscmhicks]

well guys I watched akira , and well to be honest I don't know what to think of it.
I enjoyed it but I kinda didn't get it...

Er... where to start ?.
The story was very impressive but also very strange and hard to grasp , from going from all American movies to this was a big leap. It started and I understood the story well , then when the kid in the chair came into it I kinda thought .... " riiiiggghhht ".

Then giant teddys started to attack him and I was like " wtf is going on... "

I was quite tired at the time and the movie definitely deserved my attention more than it got. I really enjoyed it but the strange thing is I couldn't and still can't put my finger on why I liked it.. ??

A strange experience to say the least...

It did make me laugh when ( forgive me I forgot his name : ) one of the biker guys said to the girl " you could of at least told me your name you cold ^^^^^ ! "

With this being one of my first anime it was like watching pokemon on acid !

I definitely want to watch more... so guys what do yuo think should be my next purchase to add to the 1 dvd I now call my collection.

 

[plasmid303]

Whoa you started with Akira? That's one anime I would have saved until I saw lighter stuff. But it's good that you liked it, and it's understandable that you got a bit confused with the story because honestly, it's not that easy to grasp the first couple times.

Anyway, have you seen Ghost in The Shell? That's totally worth watching if you liked The Matrix (Ghost in the Shell is one of the films that inspired the Wachowski's). There's also a sequel, called Ghost in the Shell: Innocence. That one is pretty, but I thought it got boring quick.

Studio Ghibli movies. If you liked Spirited Away, stick with anime produced by that studio. Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, it's all good.

But dude, if I could recommend one movie to watch next, it would be "Paprika". One of the coolest recent anime movies I've seen.

As for more recent stuff, I'm sure many board members here could suggest some good stuff (they've been doing so in the last few pages).

 

[-Super Hans-]

As mentioned before dragonball z is great. if your into street fighter etc this is the one to watch but like most anime dont take it to seriously. It has talking dog policemen in it. you can pick a saga up for about £16 which has 20-30 20 minute episodes in so worth a watch with great fight scenes. Recomend frieza or cell saga

 

[devilof76]

If you don't want to start with lighter stuff, you should go all the way to the top and watch Neon Genesis Evangelion. Episodes 1-24, and then the movie The End of Evangelion. You can go back and watch the 26th and 27th episodes after you see the movie. It originally aired with all 26 episodes, but the movie is the real ending, replacing the original final two installments.

If I had seen that when I was 15-16, I can't even imagine how severely it would have blown my mind.

 

[Entropy]

I personally don't like light fluff anime.

Evangelion is good, but a fair commitment to watch all of.

I'd recommend Princess Mononke next.

 

[uscmhicks]

I think I'm gonna go with ghost in the shell next.
Thanks for the info guys , dragon ball z will definitely be one to watch.

I've got a £10.00 ebay voucher so I will try to pick it up now actually..

 

[eighthsamurai]

i watched paprika for the 1st time last night, and despite having watched 100s of anime movies, i still had trouble following parts of what was going on. but stick with it because it's all worthwhile in the end. when you watch akira again maybe a few years down the line, you'll have a much better understanding of it.

if you didn't get akira, ghost in the shell might not be the best one to move on to. i would try tokyo godfathers or cowboy bebop. or maybe appleseed. ghost in the shell has a lot of quite deep philosophical and technological themes, similar to akira. it might be best if you just get used to and enjoy the anime style before you watch anything too complicated, coz it might turn you off for good.

 

[plasmid303]

Akira was my indoctrination into hard sci-fi anime. It was so obtuse the first time I saw it (I was like, 14 yrs old or something). Years later and many viewings of Akira since, it still amazes me at how sophisticated it is, in all regards. It's visuals are still incredible even by todays standards, and the musical score is still haunting. The ending still blows me away. Akira could arguably be the epitome of post-modern dystopian anime, and it'd be a shame for any anime fan to miss it.

I thought Ghost in the Shell was easier to grasp and the philosophical pontifications, while not easy to absorb at first, are very cool ideas. You can skip the sequel though. It's easy on the eyes but doesn't amount for much except principle characters spouting philosophy as idle conversation.

Evangelion is a must, and then watch RahXephon. Many argue over which is the superior anime, although most would concede that Evangelion had more impact on modern anime culture (although admittedly it did come first).

My favorite mindless action anime series is Bio-Booster Armor Guyver. It's just good fun and lots of gore.

 

[minivader]

evangelion was one of the few anime series that I had trouble following. not because I couldn't get them but because it was just boring. initially I was attracted by the robot design, and I wanted to like it because the battle scenes were very good. But in the end, it just doesn't deliver. Its one of those shows where the good parts are short and too few in between, and you have to suffer almost an entire episode of boring/bad scenes to finally get 1-2 minutes of the good parts. But dont let that discourage you, try it out, you might find it more your cup of tea than I did.

 

[Customikey]

I'm a big fan of Elfen Lied. Violence, gore, nudity, sexual tension, interesting characters, and a compelling story.

 

[Malice]

appleseed
ninja scroll
ghost in the shell

 

[Kuzeh]

I'm old school...
Mazinger Z (Tranzor -Z in the U.S.)...'nuff said!!

 

[kazukijun]

New to the freaks board, anyway allow me to intro some of my fav animes.

Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion
Most brilliant anime ever written! After one episode, u will be totally hooked.

Ghost in the Shell 2 Innocence - personally I think its better than Ghost in the shell.

Evangelion - I recommend the tv series followed by death & rebirth and the end of evangelion. I dont recommend the remake movie Evangelion 01 you are not alone, as I felt it took out too much scenes and doesnt show alot of character development. As mentioned by plasmid303, RahXephon is also highly recommended.

Vexille - produced by the ppl who brought you the original Appleseed. Do check it out, intriguing storyline and great 3D graphics.

 

[eighthsamurai]

hey kaz!!! good to see you here. i think i need to see GITS2 again. i got a really dodgy VCD version from HK (thinking it was an actual DVD the price i paid). subtitles were terrible so i turned them off. tried to follow the japanese but couldn't get any of the really technical bits or philosophical bits. think i need to try again.

 

[kazukijun]

yep, its nice to be finally be able to log in here hehe.
Damn...that sucks, hope your able to get a better version of it.
I got a hong kong edtion 2 discs dvd set and it comes in a great box packaging. Check out www.panorama.com.hk, they are the one that produced the dvd.