Sell Me on Anime/Manga

I know I'm like the only person on TV Tropes not to be into manga and anime. But I'm giving some thought to getting into some good anime and manga, after a life of avoiding it like the plague. I'm looking for recommendations, of two categories.

The first category of recommendations I'm looking for has to do with fitting one or more of my primary interests.

A) I love settings that blend sci-fi with fantasy. Magic plus futuristic tech (or at least steampunk)! Dragons fighting in space? Yes, please!

B) Outrageous scale. A galaxy is threatened? Pfft, small potatoes. I like a story to stretch across the universe and traipse through time and alternate dimensions.

C) Outlandish power. Your superweapon can destroy a planet? Pfft, Death Stars are yesterday's news. Unless it's a single being who can do that, like Superman or something. Godlike beings like that are super cool.

The second category of recommendations I'm looking for is those anime and manga that may not fit into the above interests, but are just that good, that I absolutely have to try them.

Also, I'm already planning to check out the DBZ manga. Thanks!

You know what's funny? Even though you're probably not looking for this, Yu Gi Oh, or atleast the japanese version, pretty much have everything you listed.

Dragons, dragons in space, world destroying weapons etc. etc. Steampunk, magic.

edited 6th Jul '11 6:09:07 PM by Signed

LOL Okay. There's a difference between the English/American Yu-Gi-Oh and the Japanese one?

I haven't seen it, but Gurren Lagan always seems to come up when people are talking about something being Beyond the Impossible.

I'm personally fond of Samurai Seven and Gankutsuou in terms of really cool Schizo Tech.

4Kids had the license to the American one. 4Kids is known for ruining everything it gets its fingers on.

edited 6th Jul '11 6:52:23 PM by burnpsy

^^^ Well, sorta. The Japanese one is darker and makes a bit more sense, especially if you read the manga. And the latest series is set in the far future in what I'm pretty sure is a space colony.

edited 6th Jul '11 6:58:38 PM by FurikoMaru

I can't vouch for its quality (since I've never seen it), but Demonbane fits all your criteria.

You want Outrageous Superlatives? You want Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

I haven't seen it yet, but Gurren Lagann definitely seems like it'd fit the sort of series you're looking for. This might be a bit of an odd recommendation but by the final episodes Puella Magi Madoka Magica actually fits all three of the criteria you listed. I can't really get into how without spoiling the series, and I think Madoka might not be good as a "first entry" into anime since it's specifically playing with a popular anime genre, but it might be worthwhile for you to look into it if you can get past the cutsey art style.

As for your other category, films by Studio Ghibli and Mamoru Oshii are well-known as being "gateway drugs" and overall being high-quality. For Ghibli I think the best film for you to check out first would probably be either Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind (which is sci-fi but sort of fantasy-ish in feel, which you seem to like?—also the first original film by Hayao Miyazaki, a big name in anime) or Princess Mononoke (another Miyazaki, one of his greatest if not the greatest). For Oshii's films, Ghost In The Shell and it's "not-a-sequel-except-it-totally-is" successor, Innocence, is probably worth checking out (although I should warn you that those films are very, very dense).

Here's some other "gateway anime" titles that I think you might enjoy:

• Akira
• Trigun
• Cowboy Bebop
• Fullmetal Alchemist (either version—I haven't seen Brotherhood yet but I've heard good things about it)
• Neon Genesis Evangelion (A Love It or Hate It title, so you might not like this one)

And some series I love that might be harder to get into, but I think may be worth while to check out:

• Princess Tutu (If you can get past how girly it is)
• Baccano
• Paranoia Agent (Far warning: twisted and rather creepy.) (Also, pretty much anything by Satoshi Kon is a good thing to try.)
• Full Metal Panic
• Toki Wo Kakeru Shoujo
• FLCL

edited 6th Jul '11 7:34:09 PM by BrightBlueInk

Vision Of Escaflowne, Magic Knight Rayearth, Sakura Taisen off the top of my head.

edited 7th Jul '11 1:36:58 AM by KnightofLsama

Toaru Majutsu No Index fits both A and DEFINITELY C, but the anime's only adapted 13 out of 22 novels, and it's on the 14th where things really pick up. Also, the science side doesn't really interact with the magic side much until much later on.

Fullmetal Alchemist (manga and Brotherhood anime) mixes sci-fi (alchemy) and turns it into Functional Magic, so it fits your first category. I haven't watched the first anime series, but I hear it's worth getting into — you should watch the 2003 anime first before the manga since the 2003 anime's plot deviates from the original heavily.

Mahou Sensei Negima may lack a little in the sci-fi department, but it's definitely worth checking out. It fits both B and C in your categories. Plus, there's a reason why it's on the Trope Overdosed series.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is a nice watch if you can ignore the "Magical Girl" bit, but even then it eventually practically drops the Magical Girl part by the second season. It fits all of your categories nicely.

Code Geass is somewhat Love It or Hate It, but it's also one of the classics and it also plays with several genres, mostly Slice of Life, Humongous Mecha and Urban Fantasy. Definitely worth checking out.

Watch Gurren Lagann.

From point "A", "Dragons fighting in space" I thought of Scrapped Princess, that has a scene like that. It starts as classic Medieval European Fantasy, with elements of sufficiently advanced technology of a previous civilization coming up.

Suzumiya Haruhi

edited 7th Jul '11 5:55:40 AM by EternalSeptember

A: Fullmetal Alchemist is probably what you want to watch. A Certain Magical Index would also qualify, but be prepared for some long winded Kirk Summation punctuated by Good Old Fisticuffs.

B and C: Never seen it, but I understand Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann to be the epitome of this. There are a few others I have seen, but they come at it with twists that might not be what you are looking for.

General Anime Recommendations:

So you want some good anime to start with?

Fullmetal Alchemist - A good strong plot, great characters, an action adventure story. There are two animated versions. I prefer the Brotherhood version that follows the manga storyline, it has the better ending in my opinion. Although I grant that the other animated version has a better beginning and setup. Good dub (not sure if this matters).

Cross Game (or Touch). Adachi is considered one of the great manga writers of all time. Generally he writes sports dramas that examine coming of age and the tragedy of death and grief. Think of films like For Love Of The Game or The Natural. Basically baseball is used as a motif for exploring life. Cross Game and Touch are his two masterpieces.

Full Metal Panic - The first season alternates between being a semi-serious take on the "realistic" mecha, and a hilarious parody of all the old American War Films. Fumuffu season in particular is all parodies- including parodies of Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, and many many others. The Second Raid season is all serious stuff. A pretty good intro to Mecha if you have difficulty suspending disbelief of giant mechanical war robots. Good dub.

Gundam - Pick one of them. Pretty much the standard bearer for mecha. Usually a basic story of heroism and drama.

Neon Genesis Evangelion - The infamous anime Mind Screw. It's really focused more on character development than plot so you don't need to know anything about mecha before watching, but you'd probably enjoy it more if you watch it after watching a few mecha shows. Also, you need to be okay with watching a Classical Anti-Hero. Decent dub.

Crest Of The Stars - A good solid sci-fi show with Gray-and-Gray Morality. A massive war stretching across the galaxy, but with a focus on a few small players in the larger picture. Very good character development, a tight plot.

Tiger And Bunny - A currently running anime. A Japanese ode to American Superheros. Has a bit of friendly jabs at the cliches, but mostly plays things straight.

Read Or Die (the OVA) - An example of how anime can make the most ridiculous premises really fun and exciting. Good dub.

Chrono Crusade - Another example of ridiculous premises being made awesome. An example of the Nuns Are Mikos fallacy that anime often falls into. Also a good example of tragedy done well.

Maison Ikkoku - One of the great anime romantic comedies of all time. Still used as inspiration from many modern anime romantic comedies. Starts slow but builds to an amazing payoff (if you like romance). Probably Rumiko Takahashi's greatest work.

Inu Yasha or Ranma One Half - These are the two Rumiko Takahashi anime/manga that most anime viewers have been exposed too. Inu Yasha is more an epic fantasy quest (but be prepared for a lot of filler if you watch the anime, you might prefer the manga). Ranma One Half is a lowbrow slapstick martial arts romantic farce. Again the anime has filler and didn't even finish the story so you might prefer the manga. Inuyasha has a good dub.

Madoka Magica - A great show that just finished. Have you been exposed to any Magical Girl anime? (I have sisters). If you have, be prepared to have your perceptions turned on it's head. Think Faust applied the world of Magical Girls. Also has one of the most amazing soundtracks ever. Not just for anime, I mean ever. It competes with Star Wars for memorability. I mean, the fans got so impatient waiting for the official soundtrack that they went and started producing their own. Mami's Battle Theme in particular was a popular one to do. Just make sure you watch till the third episode before making a decision on whether to watch the rest or not.

Katanagatari - An interesting show. Heavy on dialogue the first three episodes, but stick with it, it has some awesome action scenes.

There are bunch of others I could suggest as well, but I think that enough to get started and I don't want to overwhelm you.

edited 7th Jul '11 1:51:08 PM by Sackett

Cowboy Bebop really can't be mentioned enough - although it doesn't fit your specific criteria, it is a must-see series and a good starter for viewers who aren't necessarily into anime. It's sort of part Used Future Space Opera/Space Western, part gangster movie, and part kung fu flick, with episodes that make specific homages to - among other things - blaxploitation, film noir, and horror. Also it's got a really fantastic soundtrack.

Full Metal Panic, Baccano, and Tiger And Bunny have also already been mentioned in detail, but I'll go ahead and second those, too. They're all very good series and the latter two are both based in western genres (gangster films and superheroes, respectively) so like Bebop they're both pretty accessible to non-anime fans, although Baccano's Anachronic Order may make it harder to follow.

For something a little closer to the criteria you gave, you might try Toward The Terra. I can't promise that it'll be as easy to get into as the other shows mentioned, since it's based on a manga from the '70s and clearly shows the influence, but it is a sci-fi series with a pretty grand scale and some borderline absurd power levels, and is generally good stuff.

Gurren Lagann pretty much fits all of the criteria you listed. It's a short series, being only 27 episodes long (one of them being a recap episode) but holy hell does it get epic.

Also, if you do like Gurren Lagann and DBZ, I suggest you read One Piece. The fights aren't on a galactic scale or anything, but a lot of it was inspired by DBZ and it is very over the top like Gurren Lagann.

One manga-only work I recommend is Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, which is a urban fantasy/horror series. Five college students discover that their oddball talents just happen to make them competent at fulfilling the last requests of the dead and form a small business to take advantage of this. Good art, interesting writing, lots of corpses.

Thank you so much for all the recommendations, guys! They all look interesting, and several stuck out at me.

Of course, it will take me a while to get and watch all these, but I'm looking forward to it!

:)

Enthusiastic second, that's a great read.

Alternatively, skip the first season and go for The Movie remake instead since it's more action-packed, less sexualized, and closer to the rest of the franchise. The rest of the franchise, by the way, is practically half-fantasy half-sci fi, by which I mean a Space Police of alien mages from another planet in another dimension using computerized magical staffs to cast spells.

The Five Star Stories hits most of the points. By the end, three of the characters are gods - not Physical Gods, but actual powers-that-be. It also has some nice Schizo Tech and Earth-Shattering Kaboom-capable weapons.

I'd like to second the above recommendations of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Fullmetal Alchemist, and anything by Hayao Miyazaki. Also, if you don't mind watching something incredibly depressing, I highly recommend Bokurano (which meets criteria B and C you mentioned).

Here are some series that I really like, but don't fit with the interests you mentioned:

• Haibane Renmei — possibly my favorite anime. It's subtle and slow-paced, but it tells a beautiful and interesting story.
• Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni
• Serial Experiments Lain (if you don't mind being confused)
• Spice And Wolf