Manga & Anime Recommendations

Pandora Hearts anyone?

Definitely Baccano!

Last call as the panel is on Friday—

1. Started no earlier than 2014. 2. Speculative Fiction (SF, F, Horror, maybe magical realism) 3. "Thinky" as this is for a very literature-oriented audience.

Previously suggested: Mushishi Season Two; Chaika the Coffin Princess (I'd like more detail on what makes Chaika good/thinky, as I haven't seen it.)

I suspect that the "new" criteria makes it difficult as many of us just autosuggest the same series over and over. But let's have a good college try!

@Eva Unit 01 Shugo Chara! and Soul Eater may fit your criteria. Most anime/manga I've seen/read have mostly female characters.

@ SKJAM: You have one day to marathon at least the first season of Chaika, which should put you in a better position to discuss its villain protagonists, grey morality, somewhat sympathetic antagonists, and having multiple sides to a conflict (not just clear protagonist/antagonist divide).

Anyone heard of Tenkuu Shinpan?

I have looked at No 6, Death Note, DN Angel, and am currently into Kuroshitsuji what with the bishonen and overt Ho Yay. I am looking for another anime/manga that makes you go "I can't believe its not shounen-ai/yaoi" with much of Ho Yay being directed towards one of the main bishonen male characters.

This.

So I saw this trailer for SSB 4 and completely fell in love with it (and, subsequently, Kid Icarus.) What really blows me away is how fast and gorgeous the animation is. I can honestly say I've never seen a fight sequence as fluid as this one.

So ever since I've been wanting to see an anime full of great action like this. In the past my favorite shows have all been indirect fighting, like 'mons and card games (and intense Death Note wars). But if there's an anime out there with fight sequences like that, I've been missing something. Other elements I look for are great characters, fantasy elements, not 4Kids levels of dubbing...

Any recommendations?

07-Ghost, Amatsuki, Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu LOVE!, Descendants Of Darkness, Free, Kyo Kara Maoh, Kuroko No Basuke, Loveless, The Prince Of Tennis, Samurai Flamenco, Sengoku Basara, Tiger And Bunny... I could go on, but that should be enough to start

...Yeah, that's not happening. I could point you towards a few brief fight scenes on that level, but animation like that is used sparingly even in high-budget series

That's what I figured. Anything you've got would be nice, though.

Maybe an anime movie or OVA, rather than a full-blown series? Those tend to have higher budgets. Although I can't think of anything particular to recommend in that case.

...Well, there was that one awesome 10-minute scene in The 08th MS Team, but combat wasn't what it was really all about either, so I don't know.

edited 19th Apr '15 11:04:43 AM by kkhohoho

I guess I'm being too specific. I just wanted a new anime to watch, and that trailer really caught my attention. :P I'll try and search around for a good actiony anime with good characters—that's all I really ask.

I recommend Project A-Ko which has the first animated superhero fight scene I'd seen that really took advantage of the medium.

Oh, and my fellow panelists turned out to be woefully unprepared (none of them had watched anime for the last year) but here's a look at what was mentioned at the Anime for Speculative Fiction panel this year: http://www.skjam.com/2015/04/08/anime-for-speculative-fiction-fans-2015/

@Sweetgm2: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. The Ho Yay between Kira and Athrun must be seen to be believed.

@Syrika: Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure might be your thing. The 2012~onward anime isn't dubbed, although you can watch it legally subbed on Crunchyroll.

If you're cool with Humongous Mecha, I'd also suggest Mobile Suit Gundam 00.

So, I'm having a blast reading Denpa Kyoushi, as I did years ago with Mahou Sensei Negima!.

So are there any other kickass manga featuring super-awesome schoolteachers?

Looking up the tropes page, Denpa Kyoushi seems somewhat interesting, but I'm still not sure what it's really about. Is it just a Bad Ass Teacher dealing with troublesome students, or is there a real plot to it?

edited 21st Apr '15 6:14:21 PM by kkhohoho

I know that Great Teacher Onizuka and Hell Teacher Nube exist, but cannot vouch for their quality

edited 21st Apr '15 6:16:35 PM by Hylarn

The Badass Teacher is an utterly shameless otaku and NEET who seems to be gradually finding that he enjoys helping problem students realize their full potential as much he loves indulging in his nerdery. ...He just prefers to help said students by method of being a Magnificent Bastard, forcing his students to self-realize on their own, and once his interest is actually peaked, he goes about it with a Blood Knight-like enthusiasm.

There's also a fair bit of one-sided Student/Teacher Romance, but if shipping's your thing, there are also a few adult women that the fandom seems to prefer pairing him with.

GTO and HTN both look pretty cool as well, so I'll check those out at some point too.

edited 21st Apr '15 6:55:20 PM by EvaUnit01

Assassination Classroom is in roughly the same type of storlyline (badass teacher helps students) but crosses the line into actual superpowers.

Can anyone recommend me any good competition-based cooking mangas like Shokugeki no Soma and Cooking Master Boy?

Setting doesn't really matter.

Can't say about good, but there's Yakitate!! Japan.

edited 22nd Apr '15 5:50:09 AM by Elfhunter

It's more shonen action than competition cooking, but Toriko has lots and lots of Food Porn if that's what you're looking for.

Looking into both. Thanks.

out of print, but also Iron Wok Jan which has a Villain Protagonist.

Help a guy out, I'm looking for some epic seinen.

I'm currently in the process of reading what's available of Violence Jack, and I already have Berserk lined up to crush my soul all over again... Is Blame! worth looking into, and does anyone else have any other suggestions?