Manga & Anime Recommendations

x3 I see Cowboy Bebop on the list, so maybe Samurai Champloo?

I'd give FLCL a shot. Crazy over the top, only 6 episodes.

Hey guys,

I’m working on a an essay about manga openings and I’m curious, what are some of your favourite manga openings and why.

For me personally berserk is one of my favorite openings. Right from the first page you’re thinking what the hell is going on here? The imagery is so striking and as a reader you really want to know where this goes. Also I think what makes this opening work so well is that it sets the tone and theme of the storey. In a way these first five pages tell the entire story of Berserk in just a few panels.

Kaguya Wants to Be Confessed To is a fun comedic example where the very first page is both funny and a pitch-perfect demonstration of the tone of the series going forward. The rest of the first chapter does a good job of quickly introducing the characters, setting, and format that the following chapters will follow.

Tokyo Ghoul :re has a great opening in my opinion. The original's is okay but the sequel does it better. You get colored pages of some of the old characters and snippets of the new ones, while the story reintroduces the concept of ghouls. Then there's a beautiful two page spread of the sky with words "The sky next to the tragedy is a clear blue,"(unfortunately that specific quote is not included in the Viz release as far as I can tell) with Haise(main character) commenting that he feels like he's read this story before(wink wink).

Another great opening would probably be Monster. Introduces you to the story's atmosphere, very grounded in reality. Then you learn of our main character Tenma, who's been confronted by the widow of a Turkish man who came all the way to Germany to be operated on but then Tenma had to go perform surgery on a famous opera singer not knowing that the real reason he didn't operate on the man who came in first was because the hospital wanted to get more famous by saving a celebrity. This is what reaffirms his ideal that all lives are created equal, which leads to him later operating on a boy who was shot in the head that came in first instead of the mayor who came in later. The mess he ends up in years later, oh boy.

The first chapter of Future Diary will always be the most memorable, for me. I read the manga way before the anime was ever a thing, and its literal first panel was an unlucky everyman being surprise-kissed by an attractive girl he doesn't know. This SOUNDS like the start of your typical harem romcom but the rest of the chapter just goes down a psychotic murder-or-be-murdered plot. So that's fun! I think it's a great preview to the series that continued to mix overly sexual content with a dark and nihilistic story.

Also, Shout-Out to the infamous first chapter of Elfen Lied!

I am looking for cutesy junk food. Either cutesy sitcoms like Lucky Star or Blend - S, or romantic-comedies like Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions (added drama optional but preferred).

Bonnouji, Poor Poor Lips, Ore Monogatari, Horimiya, Jitsu wa watashi wa, Tomo-chan wa onnanoko and Anitomo might scratch your itch for cute romances. Poor Poor Lips art is, uh, rather bad but it's still cute as hell.

edited 3rd Dec '17 6:15:02 AM by mrsunshinesprinkles

I guess I should have specified that I’m looking for anime on Crunchyroll.

whompwhomp

I'm making a list of anime for a friend to watch and found myself at a bit of a pause. This friend of mine likes the Gantz anime and claims to like mind-bending anime, stuff that "comes together at the end." I know they like grittier stuff with a mature tone - but then they mentioned liking Soul Eater and I was like, "welp."

The list I made for them included Cowboy Bebop, Baccano, Samurai Champloo, Trigun, Gurren Lagann, Durarara, and Black Lagoon. But that's me being a hipster and trying to keep them away from newer, light novel-adapted stuff. I figured, "something like Gantz and I couldn't think of much else.

Maybe Serial Experiments Lain, Technolyze, Ghost In The Shell...?

Ghost In The Shell is pretty darn good. The show, anyway. Don't show him the movies. This may be an unpopular opinion, but most of them suck ass. Including the first one. So much so I wrote a review on it. The show's good and even the manga's good, but the movies? Not so much.

edited 30th Dec '17 8:33:37 PM by kkhohoho

I am lukewarm on the first movie, and I think the other 2 are mediocre at best. AFAIC, there are only 3 movies. Both seasons are great, though. I like some philosophy with my explosions.

And I second Cowboy Bebop-that is a must watch.

The show basically takes the spirit of the manga and turns it into a 50+ ep long TV show. (With one Made For TV Movie.) The Major and Baofu's general personalities, the Mini-Mecha, and just the general feel of the show. It all comes from there. Whereas the movies only represent the manga on a purely superficial level.

Also, I'm pretty sure there's 4 of them. (Not counting the aforementioned Made For TV one.) There's the first two films, which... aren't great to put it lightly. Then there's the Arise movie. No idea how that one turned out. And then there's the Live Action film, which I haven't heard the best things about. So out of four movies, at least three of them are mediocre at best. And that's being generous.

edited 30th Dec '17 8:50:08 PM by kkhohoho

Psycho Pass is a must watch.

Steins Gate too

edited 30th Dec '17 9:04:06 PM by EpicBleye

Oh, how could I forget Stien's Gate? I've only read the Visual Novel, but if the anime is anything like it, it's gotta be good.

Anime was pretty good. It cut two arcs down significantly but those arcs sucked anyway so that's a plus.

However, they changed Kurisu's hair and this is unforgivable.

I do not consider the Live Action GITS movie to be related-it has almost nothing in common with any of the 3 continuities besides some names and superficial style.

The anime obviously loses out on a handful of subtle details, as is inherent to transitioning mediums, but then replaces it with godlike writing and moments not found in the original visual novel, such as the Oh no, don't tell me you're broken line/moment found exclusively in the anime, which seriously adds a lot to the tone of the series at that point.

I'd recommend Paranoia Agent, it seems to check all the boxes you mention.

A friend lately introduced me to the anime of ARIA; I'm on the second time through it because it's been really useful for relaxing to. I'm interested in finding other shows like it. Being legally streamable is a bonus (don't have the budget for buying discs right now and I do try to have a conscience when it comes to other sources).

Haibane Renmei's a must. It's a neat little fantasy Slice of Life that manages to be relaxing and charming while also having an air of melancholy, and still gives you plenty to think about. Not sure if it's legally streamable or not though.

well, both seasons of Non Non Biyori are up on Crunchyroll if you want a really light Iyashikei show.

If you're looking for something with a bit more substance though, there's Mushishi. Unfortunately, I think Crunchyroll only has the latest season.

I'm trying to remember that a time about a group that was mostly female and one of them as the only female in a elite group of meele fighters.

That female character was also a redhead.

Any good Super Robot anime come out in the last few years? Haven't watched one in a while and I need that itch scratched lol.