Looking for a new series, recommendations wanted.

Cunning Alias

Hi all
Im looking for a new anime series to start watching. My favs would be Fullmetal Alchemist and Last Exile. Wasn't really a fan of GITS-SOC (too slow moving). Id prefer something with the visual quality of Last exile (basically not too old).
Thanks

OniTenshi

Well, Samurai Champloo might interest you, theres also Ergo Proxy which is showing some promise and I hear great things about Eureka 7 but haven't yet seen it myself. Outside of that there's Bleach and Naruto which are both great series' if you haven't seen them. Anyway good luck with your search

Maddzy

If you feel like taking a break from action check out The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Its a pretty good story told in a mixed up kinda way that somehow works better then watching the episodes chronologically. At first the characters are a bit quirky and annoying but then you get addicted to them (which is why I made my signature).

Anyway, the animation itself is quite well done, its animated by the guys who did the latter two Full Metal Panic series (The guys who did Last Exile did the first FMP series), so you shouldn't be dissapointed there.

Kur4mA

Yeah, check out Ergo Proxy asap and give Blood+ a chance too. Both are brilliant!

carbonkid

kyub wrote:

Yeah, check out Ergo Proxy asap and give Blood+ a chance too. Both are brilliant!

If he found GITS sac too slow so he defo wont like Blood+. Recommend checking out Tsubasa Chronicle. Been my fav series of late besides the usual bleach and naruto. Your usually safe that anything by Clamp is going to be good.

Easca

kyub wrote:

Yeah, check out Ergo Proxy asap and give Blood+ a chance too. Both are brilliant!

Yeah, I second those I've seeen 14 episodes of Ergo Proxy it is a bit slow but it is intresting and well drawn. Also add Gun X Sword and Berserk to the list. Berserk is a really well made tv series and Gun X sword is class aswell.

Is Samurai Champloo a movie also?

Dreh

If u wanna watch something funny get Excel Saga or Love Hina hahaha

Maddzy

Easca wrote:

Gun X sword is class aswell.

Gun X Sword rocks

Dreh wrote:

If u wanna watch something funny get Excel Saga

Aye, Excel Saga = The Monty Python of anime. Very funny.

Art_Wolf

Maddzy wrote:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Big thumbs up to this!

Other standard stuff to check out being Cowboy Bebop etc. Excel..well many people find it painfull

Could also check out Slayers - just returning to this again now

Spoderman

Getting back into Devil Lady at the moment but think it's only available in Region 1 format. Forgotten how good this is and pretty easily picked up on the net.

I'd always have to recommend Neon Genesis Evangelion as a series to watch.
Martian Successor Nadesico & The Robotech Saga are also pretty good.

The original Fist of the North Star is excellent as well.

Think play.com is doing a deal at the moment where you can get most of the Martian Successor, Gungrave and Generator Gawl stuff for pretty cheap.

Think there's some Love Hina stuff there as well

Easca

Spoderman wrote:

The original Fist of the North Star is excellent as well.

This can only be got on ebay now. I got screwed by so many online companies saying that they had it. ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ka

Art_Wolf

Heh, got the boxed set up north for 20 pounds

Spoderman

Picked up the box set in HMV in Limerick a while back. Think it cost me more than 20 Sterling. Well worth it though. They may be able to order it in again if you pop into your local store.

And if memory serves, I think this was also where I got the Neon Genesis Evangelion box set. Most of their anime is pretty damn pricey though.

Maddzy

Eva in HMV? I've never come across such a thing

My Eva collection is all in VHS, old skoolz, I need to get the DVD set sometime..

Spoderman

The box set doesn't have Death & Rebirth though. Had to pick them up seperately.

Cunning Alias

Thanks for all the quick responces. Gonna start with Ergo Proxy and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Like the look of full metal panic too.
Cheers

OniTenshi

Maddzy wrote:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Can you give us a run down on the basic premise of the series I'd never even heard of it before, might give it a look myself soon. Cheers

Maddzy

OniTenshi wrote:

Can you give us a run down on the basic premise of the series I'd never even heard of it before, might give it a look myself soon. Cheers

Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Melancholy_of_Haruhi_Suzumiya
(contains spoilers, which are marked)

Anime News Network: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6430

The anime was shown on Japanese TV between April and July this year, so as you can imagine its not available on DVD anywhere yet (I think volume 1 may have been released in Japan), so you'll have to download a fansub.

The series is set in a Japanese school, as are many animes these days, and is kinda similar to Azumanga Daioh, in that it focuses on everyday life in Japan, but puts a pretty interesting twist on this that I can't talk about without using a spoiler tag :P

I'll quote the Wiki page's synopsis cause I'm too tired (see: lazy) to do my own.

Wikipedia wrote:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya follows the high school life of Haruhi Suzumiya and those who are caught up in her antics. While Haruhi is the central character to the plot, the story is told from the point of view of Kyon, one of Haruhi's classmates.

Kyon is a first year in high school who has just recently been able to leave his fantasies of mysterious organizations, time travelers and fierce battles with aliens behind him along with required school. However, when he chooses to speak to one eccentric girl on the first day of high school, he unwittingly sets off a chain of events which drags him into situations entirely different from the real world in which he had convinced himself he was a part of. This turns his world nearly upside down as he is drawn further into a world eerily like the fantasies he had just managed to outgrow. At first it is unknown to Kyon that Haruhi Suzumiya, a fellow first year student, is at the center of it all.

Searching for a group that interests her, Haruhi joins and quits every club in school finding only dissatisfaction. Kyon makes a snide remark about her actions and accidentally provides Haruhi the inspiration to create a club of her own. To help start the club, Haruhi forcefully drafts Kyon, who only stays in the club to protect (or try to protect) other helpless victims of Haruhi's "voluntary arrests". However, as the story progresses it is revealed that each of these supposedly "helpless victims" has a specific reason to be there.

I dunno what it is about the series that made it so popular, or why I liked it so much. You'll just have to watch it to make up your own mind. I watched the first couple of episodes one night, and then spent most the next day watching the rest. I don't normally do that.

sharingan

Maddzy wrote:

I dunno what it is about the series that made it so popular, or why I liked it so much. You'll just have to watch it to make up your own mind. I watched the first couple of episodes one night, and then spent most the next day watching the rest. I don't normally do that.

I followed it as it came out. Not entirely sure what made it such a sensation. The fansub community did not even know anything about it until the ep1 hit the net. At which point it caused a sensation, with its oddball story dynamic and quirky humour.

Basically its a sci-fi story set in a high school about a very odd girl indeed, told through eyes of one of the guys that hangs out with her. It was kinda spooky how quickly it turned into a sensation. It was the talk of animesuki before ep 2 hit the net, and the japanese cleaned out akihabara of all related merchandise, manga, music & novels after the second ep.

If you like it, theres a new show, Welcome to the NHK which is in a similar kind of oddball slice-of-life/sci-fi vein (its airing in Haruhi's timeslot)

Other good recently fansubbed shows would be, Black Lagoon, Ouran High School Host Club, Utawarerumono etc.

Theres also some other stuff that completed recently - Zipang (maritime, sci-fi, time-travel) for instance is one of the best shows I have seen in ages.

As for DVD available stuff, well theres lots to like there. Probably the most interesting thing on Irish/UK DVD that I am currently into/considering gettign into is Gungrave, and Eureka 7. Sorely tempted to start picking up Otogizoushi, even after seeing the fansubs (yes its that good).

Maddzy

Yea, I followed the series a bit on animesuki while at college, they were going crazy bout it which is one of the reasons I d/l'd the fansub when I got home.

I'd be interested in getting the novels if they were released here, although I read an online fan-translation of the first one and its like reading the script for the anime, they obviously really stuck to it.

I wanna get Eureka 7 myself, and Gungrave is pretty good. I've seen the first ep of Welcome to the NHK, was a bit odd alright but looks interesting enough.

Only anime I'm really following right now is Ergo Proxy.

GK¦ Ixion²

Maddzy wrote:

Only anime I'm really following right now is Ergo Proxy.

Yea its a bit class. Any info on when the fansubs are going past ep 14?. The waiting is killing me:(

Maddzy

I dunno, latest I can find is ep 14.

Word on the street is that the delay is a mix of a) The complexity of the episodes past ep 14, b) the recently released DVD vol 1 containing official English subs (which means fansubbers should stop fansubbing the series now anyway), and c) Summer holidays


(Edit: Was totally looking at the wrong list before, confused even myself)

Rei-chan

Omg, for some anime nothing like the ones you like, check out DearS, Puni Puni Poemi, Mahou Sensei Negima, Bottle Fairies, Di Gi, Panda Z, Kiddy Grade, Ect...
Woooo.
Don't eat batteries, yo... Batteries aren't consumable...

GK¦ Ixion²

Rei-chan wrote:

Omg, for some anime nothing like the ones you like, check out DearS, Puni Puni Poemi, Mahou Sensei Negima, Bottle Fairies, Di Gi, Panda Z, Kiddy Grade, Ect...
Woooo.
Don't eat batteries, yo... Batteries aren't consumable...

Hmm. i can honestly say ive never heard of any of those. And i would know most of the popular ones. Not to say they arent good,
But ive found from experience that the popular ones are usually popular for a reason.:cool:

@maddzy: any idea where one might puchase this ergo proxy vol.Preferrably on a site in the uk region??

Rei-chan

GK¦ Ixion&#178 wrote:

Hmm. i can honestly say ive never heard of any of those. And i would know most of the popular ones. Not to say they arent good,
But ive found from experience that the popular ones are usually popular for a reason.:cool:

Well, they're pretty new(like 5 years old), that's probably why. I'm actually suprised you've never heard of DearS or Kiddy Grade. They're really popular...just not in Ireland. And you've never heard of Di Gi Charat? Omg liek.
Plus, Panda Z pwns. The episodes are like, 5 minutes long...And it's so adorable... They don't talk in it...Cause they're pandas and other animals...That don't talk...

GK¦ Ixion²

Ur taste in anime seems to lean more towards the comedy side of it.
Im not sure i could stomach following an anime series with pandas and no dialogue, no offence intended.

Maddzy

Sorry, I said "recently released" when I should have said "recently anounced". An English licence was anounced for this series a while ago, which is probably why the fansubbers stopped subbing it.

I also got distracted by this:
http://discountanimedvd.com/product_list_category.asp?cate=2992&iType=0&cateName=Ergo+Proxy

Which turns out to be a stoopid bootleg

GK¦ Ixion²

Maddzy wrote:

Sorry, I said "recently released" when I should have said "recently anounced". An English licence was anounced for this series a while ago, which is probably why the fansubbers stopped subbing it.

I also got distracted by this:
http://discountanimedvd.com/product_list_category.asp?cate=2992&iType=0&cateName=Ergo+Proxy

Which turns out to be a stoopid bootleg

Noooooo hoohhohoh
god only knows how long it will take to release over here!!!!!:(
/breaks down crying.

tenjigozza

GK¦ Ixion&#178 wrote:

Noooooo hoohhohoh
god only knows how long it will take to release over here!!!!!:(
/breaks down crying.

Well Geneon got the licence for Ergo Proxy( not surprising really since Geneon Japan co-produced the series) and they usually have a one year waiting period from announcement to release. Sometimes the wait is longer. Check out this page for more info and to compare with other Geneon titles.

In regards to what show you should watch, I'd recommend Stellvia from Geneon. It starts off kinda fluffy but then turns more serious toward the middle and just like Planetes it takes the physics of space seriously even though the show is set in the far future. If it takes us, now, a month to fly from Earth to Mars then it takes the same amount of time in Stellvia. On the fansub side then Ray THE ANIMATION is a good show. It's a thriller/medical/drama with some mild X-files undertones.

(Please note: I haven't seen the last two episodes of Ray so this show might end up stinking.)

Rei-chan

GK¦ Ixion&#178 wrote:

Ur taste in anime seems to lean more towards the comedy side of it.
Im not sure i could stomach following an anime series with pandas and no dialogue, no offence intended.

Dude, that's not even a quater of the stuff I like. I like loads, of all types of genre. That was just some I said because I'd figure that most Irish people wouldn't have heard of them, because they're not as mainstream as DBZ, Yugioh, BeyBlade, Pokemon or Akira. Not saying that they're bad...Everyone likes different things.

GK¦ Ixion²

Rei-chan wrote:

because they're not as mainstream as Yugioh, BeyBlade, Pokemon

/breaks down and cries again:(