movies/tv I don't hate anime.... But it's really hard to give new ones a chance

[Pony Of The Month 534]

Let me explain. I actually really like anime, but I'm pretty picky about it. The strange thing is that I don't have very high standards.... Anime just has some cliches that other entertainment mediums don't. Like fanservice and panty shots for example. There are also just too many slice of life anime that don't try anything new. They just stick to a formula that they know works. And there are anime that have potential to be great, but are ruined by little pointless things.

 

Guilty Crown had SO much potential, but I couldn't get over the fact that Inori was an incredibly boring character. The only reason why I wasn't completely bored by her was that her hair fascinates me for some reason. To me, it seems like she is there to look pretty. Although, I'm not gonna straight up call it a Code Geass rip-off like everyone else does. (everyone also calls Code Geass a Death Note rip-off.)

 

I admire what Bakemonatagarti (excuse my spelling) was trying to be, but the fanservice just killed it. It was trying to be artistic, and if it weren't for all the fanservice, I would have actually watched more than the first few episodes.

 

Dance In The Vampire Bund was also ruined by fanservice. The worst part is that Mina looks 12.

 

And then there is some anime that is just plain terrible. Like Aria The Scarlet Ammo for example.

 

I guess what I'm trying is that it's really hard for me to give a new anime a chance, because I'm always afraid of the cliches. I know that western animation also has cliches, but I prefer those cliches to anime cliches.

 

Here's a list of anime I actually like, and a brief summary of why they don't suck.

 

School Rumble- I've never been a fan of anime style humor, so it's refreshing to have something that's legitimately funny. Plus, it's not just an average slice-of-life school show. It's way different from most. It has the best english dub I've ever seen. (imo) And it has great characters.

 

Clannad- A slice of life done right. No fanservice. Just story. 

 

Puella Magi Madoka Magicka- I have nothing against the magical girl genre, but this is the only one I've been into (other than Sailor Moon when I was seven). Despite not knowing much about the genre, I can still say that this is a fantastic deconstruction of it.

 

The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya- The story is just fantastic! I don't know how else to explain it. I even like the endless eight arc.

 

Angel Beats- I don't know what to say other than it has beautiful animation, great characters and is not a typical anime.

 

Soul Eater- The best shounen I've ever seen. Hands down.

 

Future Diary- I admit, this does have some elements of anime that I don't like, but somehow it works.

 

So if you want, give me some recomendations. It's really hard for me to give new anime a chance for many reasons though.

 

 

 

[Stratos 109]

Angel Beats was cool for the first few episodes and quickly just got dumb.  I liked the premise, liked a couple characters, but then the whole thing just went into "are we there yet, I'm bored," territory that some anime serials tend to do.

 

Clannad bored me to tears.

 

The rest of what you said I totally agree with and I've been looking for any kind of new anime to get into but it all looks so dumb, boring or both.

[Mutemutt 773]

Dance In The Vampire Bund was also ruined by fanservice. The worst part is that Mina looks 12.

 

I never watched the anime but is it wrong that I enjoy the manga? 

 

The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya- The story is just fantastic! I don't know how else to explain it. I even like the endless eight arc.

 

You're nuts. I was so glad I read the books so that I could skip most of that and not feel guilty about it. Kyon-kun denwa was the only part I liked about that arc (I'm exaggerating a bit, but still).  I love that anime and light novel series though. 

 

Anyway if you liked School Rumble maybe you should try "Azumanga Daioh" or the more recent "Nichijou". All have over the top humor with a slice of life feel.

[DeiStar 248]

There are many genres of animes.

 

On one side, you get the shonen 'hardcore' anime like Naruto, Bleach etc.

 

On the other side, you get the moeblobs kawaii desu uguu stuff like Lucky Star

 

And on another side, the ecchi/dark anime oriented to more mature audiences like Elfen Lied or Love Hina

 

 

 

If you want, watch Death Note. Yes, generic suggestion and sort of overrated anime, but it's not a panty shots pandering or have Lucky Star moecrap, or have sappy slice of life stuff. It's plain mystery and detective drama. An enjoyable watch.

[StingeMuffin 244]

Ah, so you've already watched Soul Eater! It was definitely fun to watch, even if only for the interesting character designs and world.

 

Anyways, I recommend Casshern Sins, with the Japanese dub, if you have access to it (I haven't heard the English dub, so I can't comment on its quality). Most of the series is episodic, which I tend to dislike, but the themes, art style and recurring characters gave me great incentive to watch it all. In my opinion, its greatest flaw is that the main plot picks up  too late in the series, which leaves it feeling somewhat rushed. Quite a shame, considering that's when things became truly interesting to me. It has some great intro and outro credit music, too, though that's no indicator of any anime's quality. Overall, it was quite an enjoyable ride.

[Pony Of The Month 534]

There are many genres of animes.

 

On one side, you get the shonen 'hardcore' anime like Naruto, Bleach etc.

 

On the other side, you get the moeblobs kawaii desu uguu stuff like Lucky Star

 

And on another side, the ecchi/dark anime oriented to more mature audiences like Elfen Lied or Love Hina

 

 

 

If you want, watch Death Note. Yes, generic suggestion and sort of overrated anime, but it's not a panty shots pandering or have Lucky Star moecrap, or have sappy slice of life stuff. It's plain mystery and detective drama. An enjoyable watch.

I've seen it, and although I like it a lot, in my opinion it's nowhere near as good as code geass which it's often compared to. I don't even like code geass as much as the other anime I listed.

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,091]

DRAGUNN BUALL ZEE!

 

Okay, on a more serious note, I'm not much of an Anime guy at all, but there are a few I like. There's Yu Yu Hakusho, which has some excellent fight scenes and some fairly interesting arcs. Then we have Full Metal Alchemist and Brotherhood; I enjoy both, although a lot of people I know say Brotherhood is better. Dunno if you'd like it, but I also like Mobile Suit Gundam, save for Amuro, the antagonist, because he's just not a likable character to me. There's also Cased Closed, which has some awesome cases that really pulled me.

 

I'm sure there's more, but, like I said, not much of an Anime guy. But... there's always Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.

 

They are teh awesomesauce.

[LeJAKoJAK 49]

If you don't mind something that is (Purposefully) completely over the top and is a somewhat parody on the mecha genre, I'd recommend Tengen Toppa Gurren Langann. It's a relatively short series with 27 episodes, pokes fun at  things serious mech animes do, the sub and the dub are just as good as the other, the fight scenes become ridiculously epic, and I feel that you can get attached to the characters.

 

I'd also recommend Trigun and Full Metal Alchemist/FMA Brotherhood. All of these anime are really good.

[Tarilaan 47]

This one isn't for everyone, but if you're looking for 'new' anime, there's one I like called Girls und Panzer. It starts out making you think it's one of those school slice of life anime, but it's actually a show about girls driving tanks in competitions. yes, the armored war variety. And while it might start in a silly carefree fashion, it does pick up in seriousness as the show moves along.

 

It's only 12 episodes long (and has 2 filler episodes, but they're numbered 5.5 and 10.5, so don't take up an actual slot, and were there because they needed to fill a time quota), and they deliberately stay away from panty shots. It's not a war anime, it's more akin to a sports anime, where the sport is tank battles.

 

The anime's not exactly mind-blowing or anything, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. as to how new it is? the 12th episode comes out near the end of this month. Again, not necessarily for everyone, but I can recommend it if you like tanks (don't know if you do) and anime.

 

Edited March 25, 2013 by Solles

[Stratos 109]

What if someone has watched all the "established" good animes?  I dunno about the OP, but my problem is I can't find any good new stuff.

[Fluttermena 1,223]

We have an anime thread you might have missed, if you're looking for something new to watch, you can have a look.

I'm fairly new to anime myself, but I have to say I like what I've seen so far.

http://mlpforums.com/topic/48196-the-anime-club/

 

[-BleachedOne- 233]

I...guess I can throw the Rebuild of Evangelion movies out there for you. They're a movie-based retelling of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series, redone in full CGI and with a re-worked storyline. Otherwise...yeah, I can definitely relate to being unable to watch new anime. It's one of the reasons why I went and started watching Gundam's entirety from the way beginning, though I've been halfway through Gundam Zeta for literally months now. And still ZZ sits on my hard drive, untouched. ._.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Seraphim

[Giegue 8]

While my favorite is far from new (created from 1986-present, 107 volumes so far), I find Jojo's Bizarre Adventure just fun to read. In a nutshell, it is pretty much the cheesy, glam, and campy version of Fist of the North Star, but with people in 19th century London fighting vampires. It also has stands, which are pretty much personas before there was SMT: Persona. The only thing is that the distinctive artstyle can put off some people, and others dislike the cheese, but I find it just plain awesome.

[碇 シンジン 27,432]

On 25.3.2013 at 1:20 AM, Pony Of The Month said:

Bakemonatagarti (excuse my spelling) was trying to be, but the fanservice just killed it. It was trying to be artistic, and if it weren't for all the fanservice, I would have actually watched more than the first few episodes

I don't think there even was that much fanservice in it it's one of the best anime series out there imo very beautiful and unique animation and scenes

[StormBlaze 992]

im a little fussy with trying a new anime. I really love proper slice of life set ones or slice of life that turns into fantasy somehow. I know the sci fi ones can be really good too but its not something im ever drawn to unless i know theres a lot of buzz behind it.

I dont go looking for horror ones either. if it happens then it happens lol.

How i get watching anime is from hearing it through my friends, at least with the full length movie ones. (Your name, A silent Voice). But serieswise we're back tracking and watching some of the older big named ones as I missed them when I was a teen. So right now we're getting through FMA. Before that it was Cowboy Bebop (why did i ever miss out on this to begin with, I dont know).

The new netflix ones are intriging. I have to read the bio and watch the trailer before deciding to try it out. So far The Seven Deadly Sins has been the best Netflix based one.

 

Oh we also go to our local DVD shop and look out for ridiculus sounding anime. Which is how we came across Panty & Stocking (freaking hilarious).