How about Anime?

[bjornolf]

What are people’s favorite anime shows/movies?

[fuse]

Does Voltron count?

I was introduced to Akira when it was “the” hot anime story.
I have mixed feelings/memories of watching it.

In general I enjoy animated stories as a medium (Netflix new Death Love and Robots, I’m sure I have the title mixed up, I really enjoyed).
Outside of traditional Disney, my family is not at all into anime.

I’ll be watching this thread for possible Prime and Netflix anime titles to expand my horizons.

[cspan37421]

w/r/t movies, I haven't watched any anime in awhile, but I have enjoyed what I've seen by Miyazaki. Like many, I started with Spirited Away. I ended up also seeing My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, and Howl's Moving Castle. I think only Princess Mononoke fell flat for me. Such wildly different worlds and imaginations/mindsets, but really quite enjoyable.

Miyazaki did not end up directing The Cat Returns, but that was great fun too.

Not sure I've seen a more emotionally crushing movie - anime or otherwise - than Grave of the Fireflies (not a Miyazaki).

[bjornolf]

Classic Disney is not really anime, per se, but we can include anything animated if we want. On that note, I like 90% of Disney and Pixar stuff. I also like the Shrek movies. The old animated Transformers show and movies were awesome, especially the movie.

As for Anime, my favorite movies include:
Lensman (first anime with computer generated graphics back in the early 90s)
Vampire Hunter D
Akira
Ghost in the Shell
Harlock Space Pirate

Shows:
Attack on Titan
Robotech (all time fave, they have it on netflix, all 85 episodes, but listed as one season)
Castlevania (netflix)
The new Voltron is pretty good (also on netflix)
Souleater (netflix)
Sword Art Online (kind of like a cartoon version of ready player one, only on netflix for another month)
Seven Deadly Sins (netflix)
Naruto is a classic, and very funny at times
Knights of Sidonia is pretty good
ID-0
Full Metal Alchemist is excellent

I know it sounds cheesy, but I really enjoyed watching Avatar: the last airbender with my kids. Very well done and kid friendly. The sequel, Legend of Korra is decent but not as good. Still kid friendly though.

My kids liked Skylander Academy, but they like the skylanders games. They also liked Little Witch Academia a lot. It’s kind of an all girl cartoon version of Hogwarts. My younger son likes the new Dragon Prince show on netflix, but my older son says the animation is too sloppy for him. My younger son also likes Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, but it’s mostly computer generated, so my older son doesn’t like it. Not really true Anime though.

My kids also love the Pokemon shows and movies.

[Acymetric]

Most of my responses are pretty "cookie cutter" for casual anime fans, but I'll go for it. I'll model this after Udaman's comic movie post.

Tier 1 (near unlimited rewatch potential, difficult to rank, all are fantastic):
Cowboy Bebop
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (The movie, this was just a cosmetic update of the original, not a sequel)
Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex (not any of the other TV series, I thought were...not good)

Tier 2 (very good):
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (This should probably be in tier one, but is just a bit behind...substantially better than the first series, IMO)
Fate/Stay Night
Sword Art Online
Death Note (first season)

Tier 3 (enjoyable, but not as awe inspring/engrossing):
Fate/Zero
Animatrix
Trigun (have not finished watching this)
Outlaw Star (also have not finished watching)

Tier 4 (I gave it a shot but no dice):
Fate (any other than Stay Night or Zero)
7 Deadly Sins
Ghost in the Shell: 2nd Gig

I never got into a lot of the movies mentioned earlier (Spirited Away and the like)

There are a ton of others that I watched when I was much younger, but I have little interest in most of those now (Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Digimon, various Gundams...a bunch of other stuff that was on Toonami).

As for the person who mentioned Akira, I have been told that it was much more popular among anime fans in the US than it was in Japan. I don't know if that's true, but it may be slightly overrated by some segments. I've never seen it myself. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some important ones that I liked...I'll chime back in if I remember.

[JNort]

Classic Disney is not really anime, per se, but we can include anything animated if we want. On that note, I like 90% of Disney and Pixar stuff. I also like the Shrek movies. The old animated Transformers show and movies were awesome, especially the movie.

As for Anime, my favorite movies include:
Lensman (first anime with computer generated graphics back in the early 90s)
Vampire Hunter D
Akira
Ghost in the Shell
Harlock Space Pirate

Shows:
Attack on Titan
Robotech (all time fave, they have it on netflix, all 85 episodes, but listed as one season)
Castlevania (netflix)
The new Voltron is pretty good (also on netflix)
Souleater (netflix)
Sword Art Online (kind of like a cartoon version of ready player one, only on netflix for another month)
Seven Deadly Sins (netflix)
Naruto is a classic, and very funny at times
Knights of Sidonia is pretty good
ID-0
Full Metal Alchemist is excellent

I know it sounds cheesy, but I really enjoyed watching Avatar: the last airbender with my kids. Very well done and kid friendly. The sequel, Legend of Korra is decent but not as good. Still kid friendly though.

My kids liked Skylander Academy, but they like the skylanders games. They also liked Little Witch Academia a lot. It’s kind of an all girl cartoon version of Hogwarts. My younger son likes the new Dragon Prince show on netflix, but my older son says the animation is too sloppy for him. My younger son also likes Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, but it’s mostly computer generated, so my older son doesn’t like it. Not really true Anime though.

My kids also love the Pokemon shows and movies.

Which Full Metal Alchemist? Because Brotherhood is the much much better anime between the two (it stays following the manga).

I loved Sword Art but the new one left a lot to be desired.

I started watching Naruto last year and hated it until I found out ot was because of all the fillers. I gound a website showing what was filler and what wasn't and now I love it! Almost done with Shippuden (sp?) then I will start Boruto.


Have you tried Death Note? I find even people who don't like anime get super into it. Watching L and Light have a battle of wits (both are geniuses) was so intense. It's also interesting because Light is the main character we follow who originally has a noble purpose (kill off all the evil and bad people) but gets so used to that power he starts killing those who want to stop it. So he is evil but also the protagonist, it's led to great discussion on whether what he does is right or wrong, deserving of punishment, and should you cheer for him to outsmart L.


I wanna start My Hero Academia soon, I've heard it's possibly the best all around anime ever but that seems extreme.

Also wanna try One Piece soon.

[fuse]

Most of my responses are pretty "cookie cutter" for casual anime fans, but I'll go for it. I'll model this after Udaman's comic movie post.

Tier 1 (near unlimited rewatch potential, difficult to rank, all are fantastic):
Cowboy Bebop
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (The movie, this was just a cosmetic update of the original, not a sequel)
Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex (not any of the other TV series, I thought were...not good)

Tier 2 (very good):
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (This should probably be in tier one, but is just a bit behind...substantially better than the first series, IMO)
Fate/Stay Night
Sword Art Online
Death Note (first season)

Tier 3 (enjoyable, but not as awe inspring/engrossing):
Fate/Zero
Animatrix
Trigun (have not finished watching this)
Outlaw Star (also have not finished watching)

Tier 4 (I gave it a shot but no dice):
Fate (any other than Stay Night or Zero)
7 Deadly Sins
Ghost in the Shell: 2nd Gig

I never got into a lot of the movies mentioned earlier (Spirited Away and the like)

There are a ton of others that I watched when I was much younger, but I have little interest in most of those now (Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Digimon, various Gundams...a bunch of other stuff that was on Toonami).

As for the person who mentioned Akira, I have been told that it was much more popular among anime fans in the US than it was in Japan. I don't know if that's true, but it may be slightly overrated by some segments. I've never seen it myself. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some important ones that I liked...I'll chime back in if I remember.

I had forgotten about the Animatrix DVD sitting on my shelf. May have to break it back out.

[Acymetric]

I had forgotten about the Animatrix DVD sitting on my shelf. May have to break it back out.

If you're anything like me, it won't be quite as awesome as when you watched it way back whenever, but it still holds up.

[JNort]

Most of my responses are pretty "cookie cutter" for casual anime fans, but I'll go for it. I'll model this after Udaman's comic movie post.

Tier 1 (near unlimited rewatch potential, difficult to rank, all are fantastic):
Cowboy Bebop
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (The movie, this was just a cosmetic update of the original, not a sequel)
Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex (not any of the other TV series, I thought were...not good)

Tier 2 (very good):
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (This should probably be in tier one, but is just a bit behind...substantially better than the first series, IMO)
Fate/Stay Night
Sword Art Online
Death Note (first season)

Tier 3 (enjoyable, but not as awe inspring/engrossing):
Fate/Zero
Animatrix
Trigun (have not finished watching this)
Outlaw Star (also have not finished watching)

Tier 4 (I gave it a shot but no dice):
Fate (any other than Stay Night or Zero)
7 Deadly Sins
Ghost in the Shell: 2nd Gig

I never got into a lot of the movies mentioned earlier (Spirited Away and the like)

There are a ton of others that I watched when I was much younger, but I have little interest in most of those now (Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Digimon, various Gundams...a bunch of other stuff that was on Toonami).

As for the person who mentioned Akira, I have been told that it was much more popular among anime fans in the US than it was in Japan. I don't know if that's true, but it may be slightly overrated by some segments. I've never seen it myself. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some important ones that I liked...I'll chime back in if I remember.

I was about to ask how old you were because we seem to have this part in common 100% but I see you have it in your profile (I'm 29 btw so we grew up watching the same stuff).

I'm with you on not caring much about continuing to follow those anymore but with 1 exception. Watch the new Dragonball Super and skip some of the fillers. Not sure if you ever watched Dragonball GT but don't and of you did try to forget it. GT wasn't cannon and Super is, it's really good and the only issue I have with it is how easy some of the new characters power up to give our hero's a run in the new tournament of worlds.

[OldPhiKap]

Okay, I really only have exposure to two anime-ish things when I was a kid long ago: Go, Speed Racer and G-Force. My questions:

1. Is that basically what we’re talking about?

2. Are the things y’all are listing on the top because the art is better that most, or that they are better stories?

[JNort]

Okay, I really only have exposure to two anime-ish things when I was a kid long ago: Go, Speed Racer and G-Force. My questions:

1. Is that basically what we’re talking about?

2. Are the things y’all are listing on the top because the art is better that most, or that they are better stories?

It's different for each really, at least for me anyway. I love Sword Art Online but there's not much depth to it but it's a good fun thing to watch and the art is solid. Kind of like early on Walking Dead, not much to it but you just enjoy it for what it is even if it won't win an Oscar. It will never rank as high to me as Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood which may not be as fun consistently as SAO is but it is designed to make you think and reflect with it's story telling and character development.

[JNort]

Okay, I really only have exposure to two anime-ish things when I was a kid long ago: Go, Speed Racer and G-Force. My questions:

1. Is that basically what we’re talking about?

2. Are the things y’all are listing on the top because the art is better that most, or that they are better stories?

If you want something easy to try I would suggest Death Note. A friend of mine doesn't like anime but he binged watched Death Note in 3 days and loved talking about it afterwards.

It's got a good balance of story, character development, and shock n awe. It reminds me of The Boondock Saints where the main protagonist is doing something that is legally very wrong but you don't fault them. DN takes it further than that and you watch as the good guy becomes the bad guy.

[bjornolf]

I hated Death Note. Just not my thing I guess. For geniuses, neither seemed all that smart to me. Just rubbed me the wrong way I guess. Maybe it got better after I quit. On the other hand, I liked 7 deadly sins, which others seem to hate.

As for FMA, I enjoyed both. I watched the first before FMAB came out. FMAB is definitely better, but I still like both. The live action movie was unwatchable though, which I kind of expected.

Forgot to mention the Stay series. Some of those were good.

Anime is all about personal preference. Robotech, for example, is 30+ years old, so it’s not as cool visually as some, unless you consider how old it is and how everything was hand drawn and “unenhanced”. I love the writing and the character’s stories. I watched it when it was an adternoon cartoon on TV as a kid. I remember how excited I was every day to watch it. It was like my soap opera. Similar to TWD early seasons, there was an (alien) threat, but the REAL story was the character interaction for both good guys and bad guys. I can STILL watch it and love it. It might be like those movies we saw as kids and still love, but someone who saw it now for the first time would be like “you like THIS crap?? Why?!” Kinda like Transformers: the Movie. I still watch that once in a while, but I can see why my kids can’t get into it.

For reference, I’m 43, so I grew up watching some of the early anime; well, the first that came to America anyway.

[OldPhiKap]

It's different for each really, at least for me anyway. I love Sword Art Online but there's not much depth to it but it's a good fun thing to watch and the art is solid. Kind of like early on Walking Dead, not much to it but you just enjoy it for what it is even if it won't win an Oscar. It will never rank as high to me as Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood which may not be as fun consistently as SAO is but it is designed to make you think and reflect with it's story telling and character development.


If you want something easy to try I would suggest Death Note. A friend of mine doesn't like anime but he binged watched Death Note in 3 days and loved talking about it afterwards.

It's got a good balance of story, character development, and shock n awe. It reminds me of The Boondock Saints where the main protagonist is doing something that is legally very wrong but you don't fault them. DN takes it further than that and you watch as the good guy becomes the bad guy.

Thanks!

[bjornolf]

I’d start with sword art online or full metal alchemist brotherhood if it were me. Both are on netflix right now, though SAO is leaving next month, so I’d start with that one if you think you’d be interested in it and you have netflix.

For a family, I’d start with avatar the last airbender.

[bjornolf]

Heck, if you’re an older fart like me who grew up loving 60-80s cartoons, I might start with Robotech before you let all the bright, shiny new anime ruin you for the older stuff. It’s got great themes from the day, like a cold war feel, issues of an entire race enslaved as soldiers and struggling with the idea of freedom, the dilemmas of cloning, are there aliens?, love and life during war, should we if we can?, conscientious objectors and the pros and cons thereof, intergalactic war of which humans are a tiny player (Star Trek). There’s also similarities to the old Star Wars (unknown kid becomes hero) and Battlestar Galactica (trying to protect civilians while fighting a war against a frightening, unfamiliar enemy while trying to get home).

[bjornolf]

I’ve been thinking, and I think DN just rubbed me the wrong way because it’s just too dark, both artistically and thematically. It’s just a little too mind/rationalization/justification of a serial killer for me. I don’t watch anime for that. Brings me down too much. But again, to each their own. It’s very well done, I admit that. Just not for me.

[Lord Ash]

Bjorn, I don't know much about anime, but I *DO* know that your use of emojis in thread titles is throwing me for a loop.

[bjornolf]

Bjorn, I don't know much about anime, but I *DO* know that your use of emojis in thread titles is throwing me for a loop.

Sorry. Old habit. I’ve done that since I joined 20+ years ago. Helps me find my threads. I just don’t start many threads any more.

[Lord Ash]

Sorry. Old habit. I’ve done that since I joined 20+ years ago. Helps me find my threads. I just don’t start many threads any more.

Hah!

Here is my anime contribution: I got the name Ash as short for Ashram, a character from Record of Lodoss War, which was on the TV when I created my first internet account, and is still the name I use basically everywhere, from email to blog to Xbox live:)

[bjornolf]

Hah!

Here is my anime contribution: I got the name Ash as short for Ashram, a character from Record of Lodoss War, which was on the TV when I created my first internet account, and is still the name I use basically everywhere, from email to blog to Xbox live:)

Nice! Similar for me. Bjornolf is the name of a character in one of my books. I picked it back in the 90s when I signed up for my first yahoo mail account because I wanted something unusual that I wouldn’t have to fight people for going forward. Never wanted to be myname974268742@random.com.

[Acymetric]

I’d start with sword art online or full metal alchemist brotherhood if it were me. Both are on netflix right now, though SAO is leaving next month, so I’d start with that one if you think you’d be interested in it and you have netflix.

For a family, I’d start with avatar the last airbender.

Does someone without an affinity or knowledge of gaming enjoy Sword Art as much?

[bjornolf]

Does someone without an affinity or knowledge of gaming enjoy Sword Art as much?

Well, probably not, but that could probably said for the subject of most movies and shows.

I don’t think you’d need a large knowledge of video games to enjoy it. It’s not all geeky about constantly mentioning their armor level or anything like that. But if you hate anything that has anything to do with gaming then you probably wouldn’t enjoy it. I would guess that most (certainly not all) people who are interested in anime would know enough about video games to enjoy it. It’s really more about the possible dangers of new and mysterious technologies. It’s not as video game geeky as ready player one, for example, but it’s in a similar vein.

[ncexnyc]

My first taste of anime was way back when in the 60's. Tobor the 8th Man and Gigantor took a back seat only to the seven Marvel cartoons that were being aired back then. Later in life I caught bits and pieces of Star Blazers and enjoyed watching that, of course when you have adult commitments and no recording tech it's hard to follow a series.

Toonami got me watching cartoons again and some of my favorite anime movies are, Ninja Scroll, Blood: The Last Vampire, and Wicked City.

[Acymetric]

I was about to ask how old you were because we seem to have this part in common 100% but I see you have it in your profile (I'm 29 btw so we grew up watching the same stuff).

I'm with you on not caring much about continuing to follow those anymore but with 1 exception. Watch the new Dragonball Super and skip some of the fillers. Not sure if you ever watched Dragonball GT but don't and of you did try to forget it. GT wasn't cannon and Super is, it's really good and the only issue I have with it is how easy some of the new characters power up to give our hero's a run in the new tournament of worlds.

Should I try to get caught up on Dragon Ball Z first?

This thread has inspired me to find some free Roku channels with decent anime selection (with success)! Unfortunately, none have dubbed Cowboy Bebop unfortunately (I suppose I could try subbed although I've always had trouble staying engaged with subbed series when I've tried).

[bjornolf]

I used to use crunchy roll a lot for anime. Haven’t used it in a while though.

[lotusland]

My son is very much into Anime. He joined the Japan club at school which is apparently a big deal these days. He says most of the club members are not Asian or Asian American. I saw in an article this year that Zion is also into Anime. I’d love to share their enthusiasm for it but I don’t even watch animated American shows.

[JNort]

Should I try to get caught up on Dragon Ball Z first?

This thread has inspired me to find some free Roku channels with decent anime selection (with success)! Unfortunately, none have dubbed Cowboy Bebop unfortunately (I suppose I could try subbed although I've always had trouble staying engaged with subbed series when I've tried).

Yes! Watch DBZ all the way through the Buu saga and then ignore GT and then watch Super. You don't have to finish DBZ to watch Super if you don't like it's outdated look but I still enjoyed it.

I have a friend who's similar to you with subbed anime. He has to pause it every so often to try and grasp what's going on. I prefer subbed for some shows because I don't like the English voice actors.


I used to use crunchy roll a lot for anime. Haven’t used it in a while though.

Crunchy roll was the only good service for anime but recently Hulu has been buying up the rights to so many anime that I just use Hulu mostly. Netflix is getting there but it's been slow going.


My son is very much into Anime. He joined the Japan club at school which is apparently a big deal these days. He says most of the club members are not Asian or Asian American. I saw in an article this year that Zion is also into Anime. I’d love to share their enthusiasm for it but I don’t even watch animated American shows.

Juju (the Steelers wr) is a huge anime fan (Dragonball Super in particular) as are many other young NFL and NBA players. I'm not sure why the sudden resurgence has started the last couple of years but I find it fascinating.

Try watching the Death Note series on Netflix if you get a chance, I know you say you don't even watch American toons but real anime is very different. Death Note is easy to get into and the quirky mystical stuff isn't rampant in it. The only mythical type things in it are the gods of death (not a huge role) and the notebook called the Death Note. Basic premise is the main protagonist finds the Death Note (dropped by a death god) which if you write someones name down in it they will die in 60 seconds. The protagonist vows to kill off all criminals, meanwhile the Japanese version of the FBI is trying to find out how these people keep dying and who's doing it.

[Acymetric]

I have a friend who's similar to you with subbed anime. He has to pause it every so often to try and grasp what's going on. I prefer subbed for some shows because I don't like the English voice actors.

I think the main issue is one of attention. I don't want to have to have my eyes glued to the screen in order not to miss dialog. I realize divided attention is bad watching for any format, but I am who I am at this point and subtitles make it much more problematic. I have heard that some subs are much better because the voice acting is so much less detracting.


Crunchy roll was the only good service for anime but recently Hulu has been buying up the rights to so many anime that I just use Hulu mostly. Netflix is getting there but it's been slow going.

Does Cruncy Roll have a free service? FWIW, Tubi TV and Sony Crackle (both on Roku) have a solid mix of shows/movies available. Not necessarily an extensive library, but a solid mix of good ones.


Juju (the Steelers wr) is a huge anime fan (Dragonball Super in particular) as are many other young NFL and NBA players. I'm not sure why the sudden resurgence has started the last couple of years but I find it fascinating.

It seems to me there has been an emergence of "nerd" culture in pop culture generally over the last...10 years or so? It has definitely been interesting to watch, especially as it relates to sports.


Try watching the Death Note series on Netflix if you get a chance, I know you say you don't even watch American toons but real anime is very different. Death Note is easy to get into and the quirky mystical stuff isn't rampant in it. The only mythical type things in it are the gods of death (not a huge role) and the notebook called the Death Note. Basic premise is the main protagonist finds the Death Note (dropped by a death god) which if you write someones name down in it they will die in 60 seconds. The protagonist vows to kill off all criminals, meanwhile the Japanese version of the FBI is trying to find out how these people keep dying and who's doing it.

I'll second Death Note. I'll give one of the usual caveats that comes with a lot of regular TV shows...give it a few episodes because it takes a moment for the show to really hit its stride although it is good all the way through. Sort of a dark Sherlock Holmes-y vibe told from both perspectives.

[94duke]

My first taste of anime was way back when in the 60's. Tobor the 8th Man and Gigantor took a back seat only to the seven Marvel cartoons that were being aired back then. Later in life I caught bits and pieces of Star Blazers and enjoyed watching that, of course when you have adult commitments and no recording tech it's hard to follow a series.

Toonami got me watching cartoons again and some of my favorite anime movies are, Ninja Scroll, Blood: The Last Vampire, and Wicked City.

Star Blazers was my absolute favorite!
Anybody watch the modern remake?

[lotusland]

Yes! Watch DBZ all the way through the Buu saga and then ignore GT and then watch Super. You don't have to finish DBZ to watch Super if you don't like it's outdated look but I still enjoyed it.

I have a friend who's similar to you with subbed anime. He has to pause it every so often to try and grasp what's going on. I prefer subbed for some shows because I don't like the English voice actors.



Crunchy roll was the only good service for anime but recently Hulu has been buying up the rights to so many anime that I just use Hulu mostly. Netflix is getting there but it's been slow going.



Juju (the Steelers wr) is a huge anime fan (Dragonball Super in particular) as are many other young NFL and NBA players. I'm not sure why the sudden resurgence has started the last couple of years but I find it fascinating.

Try watching the Death Note series on Netflix if you get a chance, I know you say you don't even watch American toons but real anime is very different. Death Note is easy to get into and the quirky mystical stuff isn't rampant in it. The only mythical type things in it are the gods of death (not a huge role) and the notebook called the Death Note. Basic premise is the main protagonist finds the Death Note (dropped by a death god) which if you write someones name down in it they will die in 60 seconds. The protagonist vows to kill off all criminals, meanwhile the Japanese version of the FBI is trying to find out how these people keep dying and who's doing it.

Cool, I’ll check it out.