I don't think I can ever not love Death Note. It doesn't matter how many nagging little flaws come flying out of the woodwork and nibble on your brain, it's just too much fun as a roller-coaster ride for me to care. It is the ultimate "turn your brain off and enjoy" series for me.

In other news, I just saw Your Name and it was fucking phenomenal. I'm a huge Makoto Shinkai nerd, and this just hit all the right buttons for me. An astounding film, to be sure.

I scanned this thread and can't find any mention of nanatsu-no-taizai (The Seven Deadly Sins).

Anyone watching this? They put the first season up on Netflix and I love everything about it.

I've heard of it, but it doesn't pique my interest enough to check it out. :V

Also, I'm still angry at A-1 Pictures for the colossal shitshow that was both Sword Art Online and Erased.

I'm rewatching Slam Dunk for the third time. Anime doesn't get much better than this.

Doesn't pique your interest!

Tell me what I should be watching.

I can't for the life of me understand why people watch sport themed Anime, but I've never watched it because of my pre-conceived thoughts.

What pre-conceived thoughts?

I just assume they're garbage. I scanned by a popular show on Crunchyroll called Yuri!!! On Ice about a figure skater. I'm sure I'll be proven an asshole here at some point.

There are plenty of great sports anime. Hajime no Ippo is one of my favorite anime of all time, and other great titles like Chihayafuru, Bamboo Blade, and Princess Nine aren't that far below it.

Yuri!!! on Ice was so fucking gay, and so fucking good. xD

That's what I've heard, but I've already got enough on my plate considering the glacial pace at which I watch anime anymore. :V

Tried to watch this but didn't manage to watch more than 3-4 episodes and got bored of it.

So...I've watched basically nothing but old Simpsons reruns for the last 10+ years and I finally decided it was time to give a shot to something new...anime (obviously)! I started with Neon Genesis Evangelion, and finished the series tonight. I really enjoyed that, I loved the creativity of this series as well as the characters (Rei Ayanami ), but I did think the story slowly became a kind of convoluted, complicated mess leading up to Episode 24 and the final two, avant-garde episodes. I personally found Episode 25 to be extremely brutal and emotionally scarring, and Episode 26 to be nothing short of a constant, never-ending stream of pure insanity - I guess I'll have to watch "End of Evangelion" to see the story unravel the rest of the way, though I'm aware that one is extremely bleak and even darker than the main series...

K-On was a strange experience for me... it feels like the only completely girl show anime I have seen so far. I like its focus on music and humor and how they were able to incorporate J Pop Rock into the soundtrack and the scenes but it seems like this girl show doesn't have the male appeal seen in others I watched this year like Ouran High School Host Club and Fruits Basket.

Season 2 of K-On! has been steadily getting better and better, largely because the writing is no longer as slapdash as it was in the first season. The main appeal of the show is that it's vibrant and relaxing--the kind of thing you can put on at the end of a long day at work to ease your stress. Having top-shelf Kyoto Animation production values helps, too.

It's not my favorite series in the "group of girls going to high school" subgenre (Azumanga Daioh and Hibike! Euphonium are fighting bitterly for that right), but it's pleasant enough. I'm having a good time with it.

(Also Fruits Basket is an amazing show despite its departure from the manga, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.)

Holy shit do I ever love Attack on Titan.

I blew through the first season a year ago, or so and completely forgot about the 2nd one coming out. I'm watching it now and I've been sucked right back in.

Haha! I guess to each their own. I can't even imagine not liking this show.

I really hate how neon genesis evangelion breaks apart at the end. It could've been like the best anime ever but they had to go and ruin it.
read the manga recently I think it made a little more sense.

You can thank the TV execs cutting Eva's budget for the more surreal final episodes. I actually liked the way they handled those episodes, given the conditions.

If anything ruined the ending, it was End of Evangelion. That movie is trash, and Anno intended it to be so.

To me that's one of the coolest endings to any film I've ever seen - in many ways just for the final line and how it's delivered. Sure, it's dark & bleak but if you think about what the series ending means, you could argue it's the happier of the two by a sizeable margin .

End Of Evangelion was fucked up and I loved every second of it. It was the perfect ending for a dark, mindscrewing and psychologically complex anime. It certainly beats the two episodes of deconstructing the characters that we got in the actual show... because the budget ran out.

How dare you. Asuna is wife.

After not having watched anime in a long time cause of job stuff since May, I buckled down and got back into it with Oreimo and Mobile Suit Gundam (1979). Oreimo was what it was, MSG felt like I was watching something primitive. Not the movie trilogy, I meant the actual 43 (42 really) episodes series. Good in its depiction of warfare and its toll on those involved in it, but pretty stiff animation and voice acting (of course I watched it english dub, can't make it inconsistent for myself).

Char is god. Now I fully understand this gif from years ago.



Currently watching Zeta Gundam and I'm enjoying it even more.

Beware of the shit that is known as Gundam ZZ, the direct sequel to Zeta. The series starts out in a very light hearted, childish way; I'm talking an almost Pokemon level of silliness. I shit you not, there's a character in Zeta who's essentially a cold hearted psychopathic killer, but in ZZ is portrayed as a slapstick Team Rockets kinda villain that is constantly trying to foil the hero but always fails in some stupid way. It only becomes good in the last, maybe, 10 or 20 episodes, but even then its kinda lame. HUGE disappointment considering how serious and dark Zeta Gundam was.

And don't forget Gundam 0083. Its an interquel that's set between Mobile Suit Gundam and Zeta Gundam. It has a dark, serious tone with animation that leans more on the "realistic" side of things. My personal favorite Gundam series to be honest.

Oh god. I've heard about one of the series being light-hearted. Didn't think we'd go into that territory.

I'm in this shit deep now, meaning I'll be watching every series. The ones I'm looking most forward to based on the descriptions are War in the Pocket and 08th MS, which aren't even full-blown series.

Recently I have seen the following shows:

Serial Experiments Lain - This seems to be widely considered "avant-garde" in approach but I found it to be more "psychological" horror with Lovecraftian elements (in terms of tone/atmosphere). In many ways it could be compared with the second half of Neon Genesis Evangelion, particularly the final two episodes so naturally it's very strange with lots of acid mindfuck imagery, but it didn't detract from the story at all and I was able to comprehend the major events of the story with relative ease (while I loved NGE, this show doesn't feel quite as ambiguous). On the horror front, it's very subtle but surprisingly effective (the fate of Lain's sister in ep. 5 is the first thing to really shock/disturb me in a long time). I've only seen the show once so far, but I'm already itching to watch it again (dubbed). I should also mention how fucking awesome the OP is, really catchy song with a gloomy atmosphere which reminded me of mid-period Katatonia . I think I would rate this very highly, a 9 out of 10.

Elfen Lied - I was expecting something extremely dark with lots of blood & guts. Needless to say my lust for blood was satisfied, but I was surprised at how ridiculously emotional and sad this show got, particularly in the final episode. I really loved the two main characters, Lucy & Kouta but my favorite character was actually the "villain", Kurama - probably the best handled villain in any anime I've seen so far. On the downsides, the animation wasn't super great, the voice acting subpar (I watched the dub, but I've heard the sub is even worse), and I really found myself despising the character Yuka. Finally I just want to say that the opening is fucking beautiful and one of the best I've ever seen, but the show would be around an 8 out of 10 for me.

Gurren Lagann - I watched this because it was made by the same people who made Kill la Kill (a show I caught a couple months ago and absolutely loved). I saw this show as basically a much more straight forward version of NGE, at least in the excellent first arc which was unbelievably fucking fun. The second arc seemed to be quite a bit darker and more serious, and while it wasn't bad (the villain was pretty cool and well done with a lot of interesting and unique powers), it was a definite step down from the amazing first arc. Definitely not as good as Kill la Kill, but without any question a solid show in my eyes. To me, this is easily an 8 out of 10.

^
Serial Experiments Lain looks interesting!
I've been looking for a decent psych-horror story for ages and it seems to scratch that itch, i'll see it when i can

So far i've only found boring or over the top random stuff:
Recently only Saya No Uta worked for me, even if i would have gladly cut out the useless fanservice bits

Okay this isn't anime but I still feel like this thread is the best place to post this.

Everybody is aware of Junji Ito on some level these days. He's the horror manga writer who is fairly notorious for how disturbing/gross his stuff can be, and his art is almost always phenomenal. I'd read his two most famous works in the west (Uzumaki and The Enigma of Amigara Fault) a few years ago but randomly got the itch to check out more of his stuff today. I did a surface scan for general recs and just cherry picked a few random ones to see what I'd find. He seems to be somewhat analogous to Stephen King in the sense that he's rather prolific and everything is generally super creative, but also so fucking weird and out there that it'd just be a massive "wtf were you thinking" flop if it was handled by anybody less talented (Hanging Balloons is a great example). Some of it wasn't that good (like Dissection Girl) and I'm realizing that his stories themselves are usually pretty meh, but it's the super fucking twisted and bizarre shit that falls out of his pen that makes it worthwhile (Black Paradox, The Town Without Streets, Flesh Colored Horror, Long Hair in the Attic, etc). One of the ones I'd seen pop up a few different places as a rec was Army of One. I read it, and like most of them it's a great journey to a sorta disappointing payoff, but that's not what I'm here to talk about.

No, Army of One is a bonus chapter at the end of the 6 Chapter story, Hellstar Remina.

And Hellstar Remina is the most absolutely fucking batshit thing I've read in eons.

The basic gist is: Sometime in the future (far enough ahead to have flying cars), a scientist discovers a wormhole and observes a star being sucked through it into our universe. It's a massive world changing discovery and everybody loses their mind. The discoverer decides to name the star "Remina", after his 16 year old daughter. The girl then, simply by virtue of sharing the name of a star, becomes the most popular celebrity in history. Scientists soon observe that the star seems to be moving on an erratic course with no obvious orbit, "swallowing" planets and stars in its wake. It then stops cold and suddenly makes a beeline for Earth. Somebody puts together that it's 16 light years away, meaning it started moving roughly around the time Remina was born and it'll be there any day now, because I guess that's how space travel works? The rest of the story deals with how humanity copes with the impending celestial collision apocalypse.

The way they choose to is why this story is so fucking insane.

Just... what?? It is so gloriously, shamelessly stupid and ridiculous and yet somehow played completely straight with overtones of Lovecraftian cosmic horror that I can't help but just fall completely in love with it. Hellstar Remina is the dumbest thing I've ever read and I wouldn't ever have it any other way.

Ahahaha! I have to see it! Why this story reminds me so much of Demilich?

By the way i've also read Hanging Baloons. It's.. it's.. nevermind.

I have to acquire some of his stuff. Uzumaki was insane, and those stories seem to be on that level!

Hey guys, I wanted to resurrect this thread for some discussion/recommendations. I've just recently become an anime fan. I've always loved Cowboy Bebop, but I never really found anything that impacted me the same way. I don't like the "silly shit" in my anime. The huge teardrops over characters heads, slap-stick comedy, just general silly shit. I don't want it.

In hearing that, my girl was like "Wellllllllllll have you seen Eva?". And I hadn't. I've now seen all 26 episodes and "The End" movie. I was blown away. I'm not necessarily looking for more "psychological" anime. I would be perfectly happy if there's something out there which has a serious tone but falls more to the sword & sorcery spectrum. Basically I wanted to crowd-source some of your favorites from the more "serious" side of anime.

Stuff I love:
Cowboy Bebop
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Samurai Champloo
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (What I've seen of it, so far)

Stuff I love that actually is silly but it's done so perfectly:
One Punch Man
Panty & Stocking (with Garterbelt) (I've only watched the Dub so far)

Those last two are admittedly silly as fuck but they're done in such a unique, clever way that I'm not even mad. Panty & Stocking reminds me of Powerpuff Girls and Superjail! having a baby. It's so good.

If you want to dive in with some more detailed conversation I'm all for it. Doesn't just need to be a list of anime. Mainly I'm looking for "serious" anime with "serious" themes. If there is also lots of blood and swordplay that's just a fucking killer bonus.

Shinsekai Yori offers no swordplay, but has plenty of victims and a depth not seen very often in anime, in particular in the second half.. it's also quite brief!

I always suggest it alongside Madoka for a dip into darker kinds of anime... and this one gets really dark!

If you liked Panty & Stocking and (the directing style of) Evangelion, you might like other anime by the same crew: Gunbuster ~Aim for the Top!~, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, FLCL, Dead Leaves, Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill, Space Patrol Luluco, and Little Witch Academia. Other comedies you might dig include WataMote and Fruits Basket.

If you like stylish action anime like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, you might also enjoy Black Lagoon, Michiko & Hatchin, Death Note (it has its own peculiar definition of "action"), both Fullmetal Alchemist series (though the brief comedy bits might not be your thing), Baccano!, Gungrave, Hellsing Ultimate, Redline (racing counts as action, right?), Hajime no Ippo (the best goddamn sports anime of all time), Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Eureka Seven, and Mob Psycho 100.

If you want more dark, psychological series, you might like Monster, Now and Then Here and There, Berserk 1997, Haibane Renmei (the darkness hits you outta nowhere), Fate/Zero (by the same writer as Madoka), Kino's Journey 2003, Psycho-Pass, and Death Parade.

Some more general recommendations (mostly films) include Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, Millennium Actress, Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Your Name, A Silent Voice, Junkers Come Here, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Wolf Children, and Sound! Euphonium (the best slice-of-life anime series, period).

And damn you, Morn, for beating me to suggesting From the New World. That series kicks ass.

Wow you guys don't play around. I'm at work but will do some serious research into these. Appreciate it!

I've already blabbed about it in here and if you have not heard of it I think you would like Attack on Titan. Very serious with tons of gore and killing.

Shit I knew a few would come to light that I forgot. I was actually WAY into Attack on Titan even before I found Madoka or Eva. I actually finished the whole first season and then gave up waiting for the second. I think it's out now though! For sure that one was brutal as fuck, both from emotional and gore standpoints. Good mention!

If you liked Eva and don't have a problem with "mindfuck horror", I would recommend Serial Experiments Lain. That show is like if HP Lovecraft created his own episode of Black Mirror . Of course, it's not quite as critical of technology or society as BM, it just has a similar dark and bleak take on it. Also, the opening theme is fucking amazing!!

On the silly side, you can't go wrong with Konosuba (a hilarious and very well written parody of RPG games...basically imagine Sword Art Online crossed with Curb Your Enthusiasm or Seinfeld...a weird combination but it works brilliantly).

I'm worried KonoSuba might slide a little too far into the comedy territory he was turned off by...but if he enjoys the first episode, then yeah, go for it.

Also, nice catch on Serial Experiments Lain. Fun Fact: The same guys also made Haibane Renmei. :V

I'd definitely recommend reading the manga instead (or both).

eh, even for music-themed, wouldn't take it over Kids on the Slope or Your lie in April.

Dead Leaves ruled SO FUCKING HARD! Literally bursting with style. I've got a million other things to check out but that was super fun. Thanks guys!

First episode of Michiko/Hatchin was strong. The music and directing definitely borrows from Bebop in all the best ways.

It definitely is very silly...but he liked One Punch Man, and I look at KonoSuba as kind of similar...taking a common cultural archetype (superheroes in OPM and RPG's in KS) and adding a touch of "reality" (for lack of a better term) to put a new perspective on it. Granted, despite the silliness I'd say it's quite a bit darker in tone than OPM, so who knows...

As far as violent stuff goes, I should probably also recommend Elfen Lied. That show is extremely brutal...both in terms of gore and emotional depth. The first episode might as well be based on a Cannibal Corpse song . You'll start the show vomiting at all the people getting mercilessly torn apart & end the show in tears as the story unfolds and more is understood (at least, that's how I experienced it). That's another show with an absolutely stellar and totally perfect opening, very unique and geinusly crafted.

As far as what I've been watching recently...I recently got into is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I can't even begin to explain that show...since we're on a metal forum it's basically the Akercocke of anime , in other words a combination of elements of different genres all in perfect syncronicity with each other. It straddles the line between romantic comedy, slice of life, and sci-fi, while occasionally dipping into other genres like horror, mystery, psychological stuff, and avant-garde stuff (the infamous Endless Eight arc). And yet, it never feels disjointed or underdeveloped...I always heard people call it one of the best anime of all time, and while I don't know about that, it certainly is incredible.