Manga & Anime Recommendations

And I was thinking they must have seen some movies. It's still comparable to lit, it just puts me more in mind of YA novels...

Well okay, there's still Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It's a genuine space opera I'd say novel readers could be at home with.

Mushishi? Wings Of Honneamise? Much of Studio Ghibli's output (especially Princess Mononoke, and, for manga, the full version of Nausicaa)?

edited 9th Dec '13 9:57:25 AM by BokhuraBurnes

If I want to watch Fullmetal Alchemist, which series should I pick? I've been told that if I watch both, I should start with the first, but if I have to choose, to go with the second. What are the differences, exactly?

The first series overtook the manga, and dabbles in some filler before ultimately diverging entirely. The story it tells is pretty okay overall.

The second series starts In Medias Res, and a significant amount of the story that the first anime covered explicitly is glossed over or covered in flashbacks (the production team apparently thought of the first series as "suggested but optional viewing" - all you lose by not having seen it is a more thorough explanation of those parts of the story, and some entertaining in-jokes). It keeps fairly closely to the manga plot and is much more tightly-plotted overall than the first, with a more elaborate cast, more dynamic character arcs, and ultimately better escalation, higher stakes, and more creative twists.

If you want sci-fi you can't go wrong with Cowboy Bebop.

I finished watching the first season of Darker Than Black. Unfortunately, I can't download the rest of the episodes because of my internet, and the manga is completely different than the anime.

Does anyone know about a manga that resembles Darker than Black on its premise (basically it's edginess, darker plot, well-built characters, supernatural etc.)? Claymore also counts as a reference.

edited 17th Dec '13 4:07:36 PM by Rapier

Attack On Titan has a similar plot and background as {Claymore}. I expect people who,like one to lke the other.

Yeah, Shingeki no Kyojin is awesome, but I prefer to watch it if possible... So, until then, I'm looking for another manga.

Berzerk. Berzerk, Berzerk, Berzerk. You must read or watch Berzerk.

If you've ever played Dark Souls or a Castlevania game, this is basically what a manga or anime version of that would look like. It's one of the greatest fantasy works of all time. You must read it. Or watch it.

Is there anything with an art style like "Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls" that is not Hyakka Ryouran? I watched the intro to episode 1 on youtube just to see what all the fuss was about (even the biggest haters tend to praise the art style) and WOW, it's like an ink painting coming to life, to the point of having RAIN BECOME INK.

I don't think I'll be able to watch the whole show (I like fanservice every now and then, but if there's nothing other than fanservice and visual style, it will probably become boring after a few episodes) but MAN does that art look great.

I would probably describe the style as a combination of cell-shaded 3d (that actually looks good) or heavily shadowed drawings with thick black edges and colour manga/comic book backgrounds (almost to the level they look like wood block carvings in colour).

I'm not an expert, but is that what you're looking for?

I think yes, plus imaginative moments like that rain.

EDIT: Also, every background object has texture, it's not just gradients. Which are fine and I like good use of gradients, but that texturing is also very good.

edited 31st Dec '13 7:13:14 AM by Muzozavr

I don't think you're going to find all that in one anime. At least I don't know of anything.

That ultra realism in the art style does seem pretty unique.

Katanagatari has similarly striking art, but it's more stylised.

Manga.Kingdom has... Interesting CGI. Some people weren't a bothered by it as me.

I guess the Persona 4: The Animation might also be not dissimilar.

edited 31st Dec '13 4:57:51 PM by UltimatelySubjective

Ghost in the Shell - the movies and the series - always gets lauded for its amazing graphics. You might want to check that out.

I'm also impressed with everything Studio Kyoto has done - the newer, the better, generally speaking.

Angel Beats! was also very well done, in my opinion.

I've been into a cool manhua series called 血族bloodline. I know it's Chinese, but this can be something worth checking.

A link to the characters is here: http://www.mangahere.com/manga/bloodline/

Check out Studio Shaft and Studio Ghibli if you want great animation.

Can anyone recommend something similar to Brave Raideen (the original series)? The premise sounds entertaining, but I only managed to find the first episode on You Tube.

edited 4th Jan '14 12:12:00 AM by leafeon

Rah Xephon is considered the Spiritual Successor to Raideen.

My two favorite anime, right now, are A Certain Magical Index & High School DXD. The Core Of All Emotion has a list of other series I enjoy. Could use maybe four or five series recommendations.

I have seen one anime series in my life, and that is Death Note. Liked it too.

Any suggestions similar to that?

If you're looking for something that's as similar to Death Note as possible (that is to say, a lot of mind games and trickery), Code Geass is for you.

Code Geass has some similarities, but is very anime

What exactly did you like about Death Note?

edited 3rd Feb '14 3:33:56 PM by Hylarn

Try Guilty Crown then. And you'll see an even bigger similarity.

Guilty Crown actually showing up in a recommendation thread without a 'don't watch' prefix? Holy shit.

Ahahaha umm I don't think Code Geass is really at all that much like Death Note.

I suggest Mirai Nikki as more similar in the mind-games-and-trickery department. Also One Outs, Akagi, and Kaiji, though this is by hearsay as I have not actually seen them yet.

edited 4th Feb '14 6:10:31 PM by Noaqiyeum

So, this thread got moved to the recommendations forum a long time ago, and now got moved back to the manga & animé.

This happened on about page 40. So I was surprised that for this thread, I wasn't bumped back to page 1 (like with the other recommendation threads) when it got moved back here. I was bumped back to page 40. Then I realized this is what happened.

By the way, Hylarn, since you're still here: I've since watched Jinki Extend and Uta~Kata. Jinki Extend turned out to suck, just as you said. It seems to have been a rather poor anime adaptation of two separate manga storylines, crunched together (often overlapping) into about 12 episodes. It could have been interesting — starring a main character who builds mecha models, and set in Venezuela (at first)...but sadly, it wasn't.

On the other hand, Uta~Kata is coming-of-age story starring cute characters...until that veneer is gradually scratched off and it becomes a surprisingly dark show. To this day I'm still not sure what to make of it.

I dropped Sacred Blacksmith because I decided that the (rather literal) breastplate armor as well as the katanas-are-just-awesome premise would probably add up to something I wouldn't enjoy.

Crest of the Stars is still on my to-watch list.