June 09, 2014

So...What's On ?

I'm suffering from acute fogeyism. 

Most of the best anime shows I've watched recently have been recommendations. Now, I sit and look at the current and approaching line-up and see a vast wasteland, but there must be something that doesn't suck. 

So what's good in the world of anime?

As "Good" is highly subjective, here are the shows that I've most enjoyed over the years. 


Depending on how one counts, there are about 40 shows over 28 years of geeking, which isn't bad actually. Note that some* choices are heavily influenced by nostalgia and others+ have, despite impressive art direction, limited rewatch value because the ending SUCKED. Additionally, shows are not in any particular order regards quality or genre. Note too that I will never in a million years admit to having enjoyed the first two Queen's Blade series. 

Star Blazers (US Translation of the first Yamato TV Series)
Spice and Wolf
Van Dread
Full Metal Alchemist 
Puella Maji Madoka Magica 
Zone of the Enders (TV series, not the Movie)
Mazinger Z / Great Mazingerr / Grendaizer*
The Original Gatchaman
The Whackadoodle Gatchaman (Crowds)
Usagi Drop
Crest / Banner  of the Stars 
Moribito (unfinished, but I enjoyed what I saw)
Rocket Girls
Tengen Toppa Gurren Laggan
A Certain Scientific Railgun
Lucky Star*
Highschool of the Dead
Nichijou (My Ordinary Life)
Squid Girl
Log Horizon
Gundam 0080
Gundam 0083
Ghost in the Shell
Durarara
Girls Und Panzer
Days of Midori
Baccano
Cowboy Bebop+
OH! Edo Rocket!
Rose of Versailles
Love Chunibyo and other Delusions 
Yamato 2199 
Kill La Kill
Supper Dimension Fortress Macross*
Macross Plus
Macross Frontier (Tentative: liked what little I saw)
Captain Harlock*
Genesis Climberr Mospeada 
Gunsmith Cats
Mermaid Forest (Rumiko Takahashi)
Maison Ikkoku
Vampire Hunter D

Also, while they had their problems I liked 
Last Exile (pompous but pretty)
Gargantia ( While generally awesome e could have done without the depressing subplot about the squid that they subsequently ignored)

Most all of the Studio Ghibli movies, but especially Princess Mononoke, Laputa and Porco Rosso  
All of the late Satoshi Kon's feature films. 

Anyway, that gives a good idea of where my tastes run. 
With the exception of most of the very nostalgic shows (Lucky Star excluded)  High School of the Dead and perhaps Baccano and Ghost in the Shell, I'd recommend most of them to someone interested in but unfamiliar with anime. 


Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 12:23 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 My luck with recommendations is terrible. Nanoha almost made me quit anime altogether. Railgun was the only show where I loathed characters enough to think how I would kill them (I think poison is the best: works on teleporters). AsoIku took me 1 episode to drop. Mouretsu lasted 5. Other heavily recommended shows that I happily dropped without much drama included Minami-ke, Mai-HiME, Ai yori Aoshi, Princess Tutu, Clannad, Magic Users Club, Hand Maid May, PlanetES, Macademi Wassoi, true tears, Kurau, and a few others. Not all were terrible. In particular Princess Tutu is a masterpiece. But nonetheless, the recommendations didn't work.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Wed Jun 11 23:33:37 2014 (RqRa5)

2 Giving recommendations is difficult and I hate to do it but since no one else has I'll take a crack at it. So, with a grain of salt, I'd recommend:

Psycho-Pass, Steins;Gate, Kino's Journey, Kemono no Soujya Erin, Haibane Renmei, Ichigo Mashimaro, Shinsekai Yori, Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Eve no Jikan, Silver Spoon, Kaiba, The Tatami Galaxy.

Posted by: steelbound at Sat Jun 14 17:13:53 2014 (vJ1Dk)

3 From the above, I'll second Ai Yori Aoshi, Magic Users Club, Hand Maid May, and Macademi Wasshoi as good fun series.  Ichigo Mashimaro is great, as is The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

Haibane Renmei and Princess Tutu are masterpieces.  Absolutely amazing.

As for current shows....  I kind of like the one with the rabbits.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sun Jun 15 01:51:54 2014 (2yngH)

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