Could I get some anime suggestions?

XboxMaster

XboxMaster

CAGiversary!
It's the time of year where I'm searching for some anime DVD's. I've got my eye on the Gundam 08th MS Team Complete Box Set for $30 and I'm looking for the cheapest Akira DVD I can find. Besides that, I'm interested in some more action anime that I could find for a good price. I haven't found much that really catches my eye, could anyone suggest some new series/movies to me? I have DVDs like the Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop, and Trigun series, Spriggan, Ninja Scroll, and a few others.
 
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Hajime no Ippo. Its a series about a kid who was bullied around in school and took up boxing. Its actually a pretty good story throughout and its pretty funny. The boxing bouts are similar to other anime series, I can't really compare it to any series because its kind of unique in a way but its still good in a sense that you never know who is going to win. There are actually stories behind the opponents of the main character where you sometimes feel like rooting for them instead of the main character. The coach and the other boxers that ippo, the main characters name, are all hilarious especially when they train with each other. I would definitly recommend buying the non english dubbed dvds because obviously the japanese voice actors sound much better then the english dubbed voice actors.
 
Depends on if you want Akira used because it is $9.99 used at Gamestop. I would also agree on Samurai Champloo because I just bought the first couple of Vol. and it is sweet it is also made by the people that made Cowboy Bebop so if you like Bebop you should like this too.
 
Cheapest price for Akira I've seen is $7.50 at walmart. I'd recommend picking up the Last Exile Flight Pack for $30 at rightstuf, it has vol. 1-4 out of seven. I really enjoyed those 4 volumes and am now looking for the last 3. Other recommendations are Ghost in the shell : SAC, Hellsing, Berserk (ends after 1st season, no ending), and Heat Guy J. Check out http://www.animecritic.com/_metareview/index.php for collected reviews of shows. I guess I'm one of the few that doesn't care much for Samurai Champloo, it looks good, but just doesn't have a story I can get into.
 
[quote name='XxFuRy2Xx']Where did you see Gundam 08th MS Team box set for $30?[/QUOTE]

It's a weekly special at Rightstuf. Thanks for all the suggestions!
 
I'm finding that the futuristic anime with guns really interests me the most. I mean things like Appleseed, Gundam, anime that's realistic and has a lot of advanced technology.
 
Devil Lady
soul hunter
garasaki
samurai deeper kyo
hellsing
gto
descendents of darkness
fushigi yugi
vampire princess muyo
vampire hunter d
kiddy grade
r.o.d.
final fantasy unlimited
trigun
scryed
full metal panic
 
R.O.D. was good, if a little bizarre.
Full Metal Panic was a very good take on the 'giant mecha' genre, that didn't get too deep with the philosophy/religious overtones.
Steel Angel Kurumi is a cute show.
I'm partial to Cardcaptor Sakura, which is now available in two reasonably priced box sets.
Excel Saga is a high-strung comedic/parody series.
Princess Nine is a series about a Japanese girl's school baseball team. I don't really like baseball, and I'm not a Japanese girl, but I enjoyed this series. I guess it's not really 'action', but it's good nonetheless.
 
[quote name='souNReAL']cant go wrong with the ghost in the shell series.[/QUOTE]

Which is also on sale at Rightstuf, so even better! (although not my cup of tea, really...)

I'm afraid my titles tend to move more toward the comdieic than the realistic... if that's OK, look into Martian Sucessor Nadesico and the classic Project A-ko.

Oh yeah- I just started watching Infinite Ryvius too, which is quite good. The basic setup is 'Lord of the Flies- in space!", but the viewing has shown it's much more complex. So far, we've had a 'government' established, a coup of said government, barricades put up to stop angry citizens from treatening said government for answers to questions about war, and a small military mutiny. I've seen a whole mircocosm of political intrigue, and I'm only 2 volumes in. It's nice.
 
[quote name='monoxide101'] I guess I'm one of the few that doesn't care much for Samurai Champloo, it looks good, but just doesn't have a story I can get into.[/QUOTE]
I didn't care for it much either. The simple self contained plots of each episode in the beginning of the series bored me. I watched the dub on Adult Swim simply because it was on between FMA and GITS. But I'm glad I did because around 1/3 of the way into the series it gets great ; there's a lot more interaction between all three characters and you actually start to give a shit about them.
 
There used to be a great anime recommendations database website, but it has been a few years since I visited and now I see it has been removed due to lack of funding. But it was really cool, you could rate a series of anime and it would pop back with shows that matched your preferences.

Reason I'm bringing this up is that there is soooooo much anime available right now, it's such a crapshoot as to which anime to recommend. It's almost like saying, "recommend me some good Hollywood movies". There is such a breadth of anime covering almost every genre, that it really is up to viewer preference to decide which would be best. Everyone has their favorites, I know I certainly have mine.

Discovering a new anime is a great experience. It's something I've been missing for the last couple of years for some reason. Either the quality of anime is going down, or the market is just oversaturated, but for some reason the magic just isn't there anymore. Part of the joy of anime was the discovery. Who here remembers the days when you had to hunt for fansubs online, and send them blank VHS tapes with a paid return envelope? Now it's all bittorrents and digisubs. And remember when you had to hunt for anime in local comic book stores, mom-and-pop video rental shops, and places on the fringe? Now you can walk into Wal-Mart!

Not that the acceptance of anime is a bad thing, but I think it grew too fast for its fanbase to keep up, and pricing of individual volumes stayed high while conventional television on DVD was comparatively inexpensive. So you had tons of anime available and oversaturated the fanbase which just couldn't keep up the same level of growth. A personal example, before I could keep up with five or six series a year because that's all that was available. Now there is so much more available but I still can only support five or six series per year. Do you think there is enough growth in the fanbase to support all the other new series? There are a lot of companies scaling back because of this.

Jeremy
 
For a recommendation: City Hunter. :p It should be a staple in ANY anime fan's collection. It's old (1981, to be exact), but a very fun watch. Both sets in season one can be had for as low as twenty dollars each.

For futuristic stuff, try Starship Operators. It's a dramatic series that takes place in the 2200s. Basically, the crew of a space battleship are caught in a predicament, when their ruling nation surrenders, and their ship is bought by a TV network. From that point onward, the crew not only has to fight for its planet's freedom, but they also have to provide the ratings the TV network demands. It's an interesting concept, executed fairly well. Retails for $29.99 for a disc with 4 episodes, but I'm sure that DDD has it for much cheaper.

I have to agree with jrutz. The market's lost a lot of its intimacy, and anime fans have gone from a tightly-knit community to a fairly anonymous bunch. The number of blind fanboys and "wannabe" fans has ballooned. Dubs have become more important to viewers than the unadulterated subtitle track, and edits to source material is beginning to see more acceptance than it should.

Anime accounts for 2% of the American video market. A huge leap from the nominal presence that it had about 20 years ago, but still a far cry from mainstream acceptance.
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']I'm afraid my titles tend to move more toward the comdieic than the realistic... if that's OK, look into Martian Sucessor Nadesico and the classic Project A-ko.

[/QUOTE]

You have good taste. :)

I loved Project A-ko. It's old-school goodness and very fun IMO.

Steel Angel Kurumi has a nice mix of comedy, action, and even a little drama too.




On a side note, isn't that sig image in the OP just a wee bit NSFW?
 
I am a 19 year old male, and the only anime series that I have viewed all the way through is Azumanga Daioh. Don't let the "cuteness" factor fool you; it is the first recent show to make me laugh out loud :D. Though as far as I can tell, the series is generally pretty expensive.
 
[quote name='GuilewasNK']You have good taste. :)

I loved Project A-ko. It's old-school goodness and very fun IMO.[/QUOTE]

:D

I just picked up the A-ko box a lil' while ago after years from my last viewing... and I was truly impressed by how good it still is. The art/animation guality is still comparitvely high, and a lot of the gags are still quite fresh and original (show me another Mari-chan! I dare ya!) You'd never know the first movie's hitting its 20th anniversary next year.

Actually, I didn't know. I really thought it was an early 90's title till I check the packaging.

[quote name='GuilewasNK']Steel Angel Kurumi has a nice mix of comedy, action, and even a little drama too.
[/QUOTE]

I've only seen a tiny lil' bit of that... I should really get my BF to let me watch more sometime...
 
Pricing of anime has not fallen as much as regular tv on dvd [depending on what series it is], but it has fallen quite a bit. And while a lot of 'non hardcore' fans prefer dubs, the dubs have gotten better as a rule, and dvd releases allow the same release to have both dubs and subs. I personally used to be hardcore subs, but I have been listening to some dubs, with the english subtitles, and they have ranged from 'not bad' to 'pretty good' [with a few 'eewws' in there too, of course].
And buying single releases can add up, but they are cheaper and more widely available than they used to be, especially when you start looking at e-tailers. If you miss the first few volumes in a series, most of them release later on in a collected edition or box set.
It is a less intimate market, surely, but I'll trade a little intimacy for a larger selection of titles from which to choose. As long as the sub and original language is still there, I don't mind the dubs. Edits--that is an issue. I don't like edits for content. But that is not necessarily anything related to DVD, in fact, DVD and wider acceptance of anime has allowed the industry to counter that. Both Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura were heavily edited for TV release, but the DVD releases are available in the unedited format, with original language. Sakura Diaries was originally released extremely edited, but fan feedback caused them to rerelease the series in unedited format. With a smaller market, the crappy edited and dubbed version might be all we had.
I'm not an elitist, I don't mind fanboys or 'wannabe' fans helping subsidize the industry so I can get the titles I want in a cheaper, better package.
I agree that the market might be overextending itself, I feel the same way about TV on DVD to an extent.

A-ko. That was one of the first titles I got. That is indeed a good one.
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']:D

I've only seen a tiny lil' bit of that... I should really get my BF to let me watch more sometime...[/QUOTE]

Definitely. I reallly like the 15 min. episode format that Steel Angel Kurumi uses. It makes for nice and quick viewing. The first season and the OVAs are the best IMO. The second season wasn't bad, it just seemed unnecessary.
 
[quote name='GuilewasNK']Definitely. I reallly like the 15 min. episode format that Steel Angel Kurumi uses. It makes for nice and quick viewing. The first season and the OVAs are the best IMO. The second season wasn't bad, it just seemed unnecessary.[/QUOTE]

And Kurumi has got one of the catchiest intro songs I've ever heard. I usually skip the intro/opening once I've seen it once or twice, but I couldn't skip this one at all.

Asumanga Daioh is actually 41.97 at DeepDiscountDVD.com, no tax, no shipping.
 
Berserk! Best story ever. and because of its short lived life as an anime you'll be forced to start reading the manga.

berserk.jpg


see! tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite
 
[quote name='dtcarson']And Kurumi has got one of the catchiest intro songs I've ever heard. I usually skip the intro/opening once I've seen it once or twice, but I couldn't skip this one at all.

[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it's cute and pretty catchy. :)
 
[quote name='dtcarson']It is a less intimate market, surely, but I'll trade a little intimacy for a larger selection of titles from which to choose. As long as the sub and original language is still there, I don't mind the dubs. Edits--that is an issue. I don't like edits for content. But that is not necessarily anything related to DVD, in fact, DVD and wider acceptance of anime has allowed the industry to counter that. Both Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura were heavily edited for TV release, but the DVD releases are available in the unedited format, with original language. Sakura Diaries was originally released extremely edited, but fan feedback caused them to rerelease the series in unedited format. With a smaller market, the crappy edited and dubbed version might be all we had.
I'm not an elitist, I don't mind fanboys or 'wannabe' fans helping subsidize the industry so I can get the titles I want in a cheaper, better package.
I agree that the market might be overextending itself, I feel the same way about TV on DVD to an extent.[/quote]

Don't mind my rants :p They're merely the words of a somewhat jaded long-time fan and anime journalist. If anything, I'm all for getting more of what I love. I just don't want to see the market crash and burn when (or if) people move onto the next big thing... and I REALLY don't want to see more bastardized classics (-cough-Live Action Evangelion Movie-cough-) hit the market. Shows like Orphen, or Ghost Stories, which vastly changed the dub track from the subtitle translation, worry me, and make me question the impact that the overall acceptance of the dubbed versions of anime holds.
 
[quote name='iheartmetal']Berserk! Best story ever. and because of its short lived life as an anime you'll be forced to start reading the manga.[/QUOTE]

I second this. Berzerk is probably one of the best anime you will ever see.

Jeremy
 
I always watch dubs whenever possible, but I have nothing against subs. That is one thing I love about the DVD format. I don't care for edits in general. They are seldom, if ever necessary IMO. Usually they are just done to appease parents. I don't watch a large amount of bittorrented anime though so most of the time I find out about edits after the fact.
 
*snrk* Opened up this thread today, and the random-ad-of-the-day is a link to Rightstuf's site for the Graviation anime.

Yep, Random Ad Generator, you nailed it. The guy asking for furturistic anime with heavy firepower, must surely want the Boy's Love title of the year. Yay, Nittle Grapser! :bouncy:
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']*snrk* Opened up this thread today, and the random-ad-of-the-day is a link to Rightstuf's site for the Graviation anime.

Yep, Random Ad Generator, you nailed it. The guy asking for furturistic anime with heavy firepower, must surely want the Boy's Love title of the year. Yay, Nittle Grapser! :bouncy:[/QUOTE]

I just read about it on Wikipedia. Seems a wee bit off from the OP's request, huh? Seems interesting though.
 
I agree, there's no excuse for an edited DVD. TV standards are different, so I can see some edits being done, but a DVD release needs to have the unedited version available.

I'm not against dubs, but I am against poor dubs [or poor subs]. Caveat: I don't speak Japanese, so I don't really know what is being said. But I have seen some titles where the dub is *vastly* different from the sub. Not just in word choice, but in tone and underlying meaning. In the original release of Sakura Diaries, for instance, Urara's subs had her being a wistful, somewhat nervous young girl on the verge of growing up; the dubs had her being a conniving bitchy little brat. Oh, and the dub for Video Girl Ai pretty much ruined it for me. The first VA's dubs for the first three disks of Excel Saga got my blood pressure up. I know she was supposed to be hyper and energetic, but man, it was too much. Apparently for her, too, as well. Plus, I am more of a visual learner than audio; even when the dub is good, I have subs on as well, both to reinforce the dialog [if similar] or see what the differences are [if different.]

But yeah, I don't want to see the market overextend itself and have companies start going out of business or only release the newest Pokemon thing. It's a balancing act. I want the market to be big enough so that the producers keep releasing unedited 'niche' titles, with subs and dubs, and make money from their 'mainstream' titles, but not so big that they drop the niche and only start releasing the mainstream profitable titles.
 
[quote name='karmapolice']Has no one mentioned Jin-Roh? Thats one of the best anime movies ive ever seen. Futuristic with guns indeed![/QUOTE]
I bought it based on a recomendation from a review and was pretty disappointed, awesome design on the uniforms, guess the uniforms "inspired" the developers behind killzone because those uniforms are eerily similar.
 
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