Anime/Manga Recommendations

[kawaii-ness]

Just post the name of the anime and an original, short description about said anime.

Could everyone please stop copying their descriptions from ANN. I would like original descriptions so that people can see what real otaku get from an anime. We aren't going to judge you on creativeness.

[MinaUchiha2]

Another, Code Geass(Including R2)
A two season anime, about 25 episodes per season.
Japan is taken over by Brittannia, being renamed area 11. Lelouch, the main character, is an extremely smart and gain something called Geass after meeting C.C.. This is what starts everything off, him making the Black Knights and supporting Japan, helping them fight agenst Brittannia. Lelouch having a thirst for revenge against the Brittanian Empire for their actions against his family, he wages war against them. Using his newfound power and tactical ability, Lelouch goes under the alias Zero in attempts to fulfill his childhood vow, to destroy Brittannia.

[animexCrazedxFan]

Ef~ A tale of Memories[1st season]

Or the second season,

Ef~ A tale of Melodies

Both are extremely artistic and soul touching animes. I cried almost every episode because I felt so connected to the pain and romance of the series. It is extremely well made. It is a bit too detailed to make a short description with characters, so a simple way to throw it together would be

"The lives and mysteries of teenagers[A mangaka-student, regular students, handicapped, and adventurous] and their companions[teachers, musicians, lovers]. A wonderful drama-themed adapted anime."

I'd only recommend this anime if you are 15-16 years and up! It may contain SLIGHT nudity, but in an artistic way. Blood, but not gore, very mature in the thinking. :]

[DrGonzo369]

I'd also recommend any of the Gundam from the Universal Century timeline. They all end in such tragedy, or on such a down note.

"And that's what life is, a serious of down endings...all Jedi had was a buncha muppets." (You left that wide open and I had to take it and run with it).

I highly recommend Kimagure Orange Road, though it is now out of print in the US and and Animeigo lost the rights. It's the story about a guy who loves a girl, the other girl who loves him, and the fact that he has to keep his family secret from them both and still maintain a normal 80's highschool life. Classic 80s goodness, and the last 2 episodes (a 2-parter) always brings a tear to my eyes. 48 tv eps, some ovas and 2 movies (the 2nd movie takes place after the TV series and is still available from ADV) means it's a long trek, but worth it.

[wandering-dreamer]

I would recommend Natsume Yujincho who didn't see this coming... and it's squeal Zoku Natsume Yujincho.
Te story goes that Natsume is boy that has always been able to see spirits, and this has gotten him in trouble for lying over the years and has also caused him to be passed from relative to relative. So it's another ordinary day of being chased by spirits when he accidently releases another spirit and learns why so many of them have been after him lately. Apparently he has a strong resemblance to his grandmother who also had great amounts of spiritual power and actually commanded a great number of spirits from a book of names that she had collected (yujincho means "book of friends" and that's how it's always referred to). So Natsume vows to release all of the names of the spirits, but that's only part of the story. The book vanishes for episodes at a time (well, not literally as in, it got stolen) and the story is more about how he comes to make friends with people and spirits, and begins to trust people again and come to terms with the powers he has.
It's a sweet story with likable characters, nice animation, and leaves you feeling good afterwards. So if supernatural/slice of life animes are your thing you might enjoy this.

[M-Pyre]

I say One Piece...(im sure Powertothesox saw that coming...XD)

Forget the crap on tv that was called "One Piece", I refuse to call it that. 4Kids took One Piece and completely ruined it. Editing EVERYTHING to make it appropriate for 7-year old children. Editing out all of the violence, cussing, changing characters names, pretty much anything that kids in America "probably" wouldnt understand (like things related to japanese culture)...and on top of that, they gave everyone HORRIBLE voices that dont fit the characters at ALL (well, excluding Zoro...)...the plot made NO SENSE WHATSOEVER after they got done with it...and they added in LAME jokes that didn't even MAKE SENSE...>,>...sorry for the rant, but I hate 4Kids for ruining my favorite manga/anime.

One Piece is pretty much about a boy, Luffy, who wants to fulfull his dream of becoming a pirate and finding the legendary treasure One Piece that lies in the dangerous sea known as the Grand Line. His biggest inspiration was the captian of the Red-Hair pirates, Shanks; of whom gave him his straw hat. But there's something different about Luffy...he ate something called a Devil Fruit, which bestows a unique power upon the one that eats it, but they will never be able to swim for the rest of their life. In his case, Luffy got the ability to stretch. (not like Mr. Elastic though. Mr. Elastic is just like "Look at meee! I have the ability to stretch my liiimbs!" ...think of Luffy as more of a...rubberband.) On his adventure he makes many alies that join him on this journey, such as a swordsman, a thief, a liar, a doctor, and a few more (that id rather not spoil...), and they face off against many powerful foes. Another unique thing about One Piece is its humor, it has yet to be outmatched!

I've honestly never seen such a well-written manga before in my life, and I was Naruto/Bleach fanboy before I got into One Piece. I highly recommend it!

[Nathan Cross]

Hell Girl.

I haven't seen much of it, but what I have is pretty good and I don't normally like anime that isn't funny or action-packed. There is a website that can only be accessed at midnight and you can enter the name of somebody who wronged you in a terrible way.

When you enter that person's name, Ai Enma, otherwise known as Hell Girl, comes to take their souls away, but at a price: Once you fulfill the contract, your soul belongs to Hell Girl and will go to Hell. But only after you die.

[CrayolaCrayon]

Damekko Doubutsu.
There's nothing cuter than a forest of useless animals (humans in animal suits that I can't say are furries. They're cute though.)

I agree, Domekko Doubutsu is A+ stuff...

I luff Damekko Doubbutsu.The unicorn reminded me of ayame from fruits basket a bit, don't know why though.

[David F Smith]

I highly recommend Kimagure Orange Road, though it is now out of print in the US and and Animeigo lost the rights.

"Ya seen Orange Road? You'll like Orange Road."

The last thing I saw that I liked was Mind Game, a movie Studio 4 Degrees produced a few years back. Directed by Masaaki Yuasa, an extremely creative gentleman who's gone on to direct a couple of cool TV series, Kemonozume and Kaiba.

Mind Game is about a poor schlub who gets his head blown off in a yakitori restaurant by a couple of yakuza goons one night, and then manages to sprint his way out of the afterlife for a second chance at winning the girl of his dreams. Then he and the girl and her sister wind up in the belly of a gigantic whale for a while. Very funky visuals, cool soundtrack, frenetic editing style. If you like the National Film Board of Canada, you'll love this.

[Macross-Junkie]

I highly recommend Kimagure Orange Road, though it is now out of print in the US and and Animeigo lost the rights.

"Ya seen Orange Road? You'll like Orange Road."

Agreed, KOR (Kimagure Orange Road) is one of my top 10 favorite Anime of all time. I highly recommend it...

[DrGonzo369]

Keeping in that "expensive due to only being released in box set form" + "shows that a guy normally wouldn't suggest" thing:

Marmalade Boy. The story about a girl who meets a guy during the summer. And the same girl comes home and finds out that her parents met a couple while on vacation, they all got divorced, and remarried to the other person's spouse. And guess who the other couple's kid is? Hilarity insues.

[yaoinaruto3]

Phantom Memory Kurau (sp?)
Its about a chick whos dad is a big shot scientist and during one of his experiments his daughter is infused with the power of Rynax, its very interesting and would recomend it to anyone.

[Zilla Senetai]

I highly recommend Kimagure Orange Road, though it is now out of print in the US and and Animeigo lost the rights.

"Ya seen Orange Road? You'll like Orange Road."

Agreed, KOR (Kimagure Orange Road) is one of my top 10 favorite Anime of all time. I highly recommend it...

Actually..... if you read spainish I might know where you can get two random copies of that manga. >_>

@Macross Aw I'm glad to see there are other Damekko Doubutsu fans. I saw a cosplaying group last year. :] They really made their costumes well.


Fushigi Yuugi
okay, I am just saying this because I've been reading the manga so I honestly don't know what to think of the anime. But it's a wonderful detailed story from the mind of Yu Watase, the woman who brought us Absolute Boyfriend and Alice 19th. It's about a girl who is sucked into a book about a fantasy version of anchient china. Though it reminded me of inuyasha in the beginning it quickly adapted into it's own entity. It's a sheerly entertaining read if you prefer manga. I can't honestly say I know much on the anime though. Sorry guys.

[Macross-Junkie]

Fushigi Yuugi
okay, I am just saying this because I've been reading the manga so I honestly don't know what to think of the anime. But it's a wonderful detailed story from the mind of Yu Watase, the woman who brought us Absolute Boyfriend and Alice 19th. It's about a girl who is sucked into a book about a fantasy version of anchient china. Though it reminded me of inuyasha in the beginning it quickly adapted into it's own entity. It's a sheerly entertaining read if you prefer manga. I can't honestly say I know much on the anime though. Sorry guys.

The Anime for Fushigi Yuugi is excellent. It's also WAY long if you include all the OAV's and everything to complete the story. Back in the late 90's (back when you could only get Fushigi Yuugi fan-subbed, before it's commercial release) it was the title to watch. It's immense popularity, as well as the good story is the reason Pioneer licensed the title in the first place. To bad they charged an arm and a leg for the DVD sets (and they still do)...

[speedycake]

Keeping in that "expensive due to only being released in box set form" + "shows that a guy normally wouldn't suggest" thing:

Marmalade Boy. The story about a girl who meets a guy during the summer. And the same girl comes home and finds out that her parents met a couple while on vacation, they all got divorced, and remarried to the other person's spouse. And guess who the other couple's kid is? Hilarity insues.

Seconding this notion! I'm surprised that people haven't seen this!!

On the topic of oldies, Urusei Yatsura is a good recommendation but as far as I know, its extremely hard to track down the whole thing. (195 episodes (50 DVDs) + 5 movies + OVA)

As for a description... Eh well... Classic anime comedy?

[DrGonzo369]

Keeping in that "expensive due to only being released in box set form" + "shows that a guy normally wouldn't suggest" thing:

Marmalade Boy. The story about a girl who meets a guy during the summer. And the same girl comes home and finds out that her parents met a couple while on vacation, they all got divorced, and remarried to the other person's spouse. And guess who the other couple's kid is? Hilarity insues.

Seconding this notion! I'm surprised that people haven't seen this!!

On the topic of oldies, Urusei Yatsura is a good recommendation but as far as I know, its extremely hard to track down the whole thing. (195 episodes (50 DVDs) + 5 movies + OVA)

As for a description... Eh well... Classic anime comedy?

More like "Meet Ataru Moroboshi, the most perverted guy you'll ever see. Meet Lum, the alien girl who loves him. Hilarity ensues."

[Phil]

To elaborate a bit, the crux of the show is "Meet Lum, the incredibly jealous flying alien girl who loves him and tends to electrocute Ataru when angry, which is to say all the time."

My recommendation is for Maison Ikkoku, the only long form comic Rumiko Takahashi ever ended properly, and even then this was only at an editor's insistence. It's about Godai, a hapless would-be college student who's taking a second stab at the entrance exams. He lives in a run down boarding house with an assortment of weirdos whose favorite pastime is drinking heavily in Godai's room, which probably helps explain why he didn't get in the first time around. One day a beautiful young widow, Kyoko, takes over as the apartment manager and Godai is promptly lovestruck. Thus begins 96 episodes of the best romantic comedy ever made, bar none.

In addition to wacky hijinx and the sort of extended misunderstandings that Takahashi would later milk furiously in Ranma, MI has a wonderfully melancholy atmosphere that distinguishes it from, say, KOR, which is a great show but in a very different sort of way that really isn't on the same level as MI. Viz released the whole shebang over the course of eight box sets; while the series is out of print, the first few box sets can be had very cheaply and I'm sure the rest of the show could be tracked down somehow if you fall in love with it and are dying to see the ending.

I also strongly second David's recommendation of Mind Game.

[Takashi-san]

Mine's not an anime, well it is, but I've never seen the anime. It's called Angel Sactuary, and it's a 20 volume manga by Kaori Yuki. It's a personal favorite of mine, and it's about a high school kid named Setsuna, who's in love wit his sister, and what he doesn't know is, she is in love with him too. Things get really crazy when Setsuna finds out he's the reincarnation of a female Archangel named Alexiel, who rose up against God in a war against angels and demons. Now two demons are chasing him around, because they want "Alexiel" to help them kill God, and Alexiel's extremely effeminate brother Rosiel shows up, being the main antagonist. It's a great story with a lot of compelling and well defined characters and a story that takes tons of twists and turns. I recommend it with all my heart and soul. Yes, it's that good.
I know it may seem like I've given a lot away here, but this doesn't even cover volume 1 xD

[William]

Just a note about the previous post, the Angel Sanctuary Anime grossly compresses the first story arc of the manga to the point of silliness, as numerous characters are removed and the remaining characters are more or less rewritten to fill in the holes. Don't view the anime as representative of the source.

[Phil]

Yeah, I can't say much for the Angel Sanctuary anime, either, except I enjoyed the literally subtitled HK bootleg of the show that was shown at COUP ages ago. All of the names were mangled in entertaining ways (with most of the letters being consonants put together into an unpronounceable jumble), two main characters had their names swapped on top of that, and the title was given as either "Angel Forbidden Zone" or "Angel Restricted Place", even in instances where the English logo was on the screen at the same time. It was a quality viewing experience all around.